I John

The epistle from John was written approximately 60 years after the death of our Lord Jesus, in about A.D. 94-95.  John is an old man now, the last of the apostles and the leader of the church at Ephesus.  He is the same John mentioned in the Gospels as the brother of John, one of the “Sons of Thunder” and the “Sons of Zebedee.”  He is the one “that Jesus loved,” one of the favorite three we see so often around Jesus.  He wrote the Gospel of john, these three epistles and the Book of Revelation.  He is the last of the apostolic eyewitness to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and he carries great authority because of that.

We don’t know to whom this letter was written, but its purpose was to counter the spreading heresy of Gnosticism in the church.  This was the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church.  Gnosticism was a doctrine teaching dualism, the idea the matter was inherently evil and the spirit was good.  Because of this belief, the false teachers, although attributing at least some form of deity to Jesus, denied His humanity.  They claimed some elevated form of knowledge, a higher truth known only to those in on the deep things.  Only the initiated had the mystical knowledge of truth that was higher even than the Scriptures.

The heresy claimed that Jesus physical body was not real, but only “seemed” to be physical.  John strongly countered this idea by reminding his readers that he was there, an eyewitness to the reality and humanity of Christ.  Another Gnostic belief was that Christ’s “spirit” descended on the human Jesus at His baptism, but left Him just before His crucifixion.  John wrote that the Jesus who died on the cross was the same Jesus who was baptized at the beginning of His ministry.  The deep problem of this belief maintained that because Jesus was not human, there was no atonement for sin –he had to be human and shed His blood suffer and die, for atonement to take place.

Their idea that matter was evil and only spirit was good led to the idea that either the body should be treated harshly, or sin committed in the body had no connection or effect on one’s spirit.  In other words, sin committed in the human body didn’t matter, all forms and degrees of immorality were permissible and one could even deny that sin existed and disregard God’s laws.  To counter this, John ‘s theme is a recall to the fundamentals of the faith, or back to the basics of Christianity.  He expresses the absolute character of Christianity, dealing with certainties, not opinions.  His sub-themes reflect the basics of Christianity that he preaches: happiness (1:4), holiness (2:1), and security (5:13).  By faithfulness o these basics, his readers will experience these three results in their lives: a proper belief in Jesus produces obedience to His commands; obedience issues in love for God and fellow believers.  When these three (sound faith, obedience, and love) operate together, they result in happiness, holiness, and assurance.  They are the evidence of a true Christian (John MacArthur).

Chapter 1- What Was Heard, Seen, And Touched

1. Why does the apostle begin his epistle the way he does?  Why is he able to testify to what Jesus said and did?  (A) John immediately establishes his authority as an eyewitness to the person and ministry of Jesus, the Messiah.  He confirms the physical reality of Christ’s “coming in the flesh.”  In this way, John immediately affirms the historic reality of Jesus’ humanity and confirmation that the gospel (the Word of Life) is true.  In v.2, John confirms that the One who was with the Father and is called “eternal life” (eternal life is not simply a life without end.  We share Christ’s everlasting life with Him), this One became flesh and lived with us.
2. What does it mean to “walk in darkness” (v.6)?  How can we walk “in the light” (v.7)?  We must go back to v. 5, “God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all.”  In Scripture, light refers to biblical truth, while darkness refers to error or falsehood.  Morally, light refers to holiness or purity while darkness refers to sin or wrongdoing.  The heretics claimed to be the truly enlightened, walking in the real light.  John counters them by saying that “God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all.”  To “walk in darkness” means not living in the truth of the Word and revelation of Jesus, the Messiah.  “To walk in the light,” means that a Christian walks habitually in the light (truth and holiness), not in darkness (falsehood and sin).  Those who walk in the light share in the character of God (“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”) just as Jesus does and whose blood constantly cleanses us from every sin (v.7).
3. Most of us do admit that we sin.  What was John referring to in v. 8?  (A) The false teachers not only walked in darkness, they actually totally denied the existence of a sin nature in their lives.  The problem?  If someone denies ever having sinned, there can be no salvation (salvation from what?).
4. John says in v.9, “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”  Is this different somehow from the forgiveness for our sins on the cross?  (A) Notice in v.8, John says, “We have no sin…”  (singular) meaning our sin nature.  In v. 9 he says, “If we confess our sins (plural - the wrong we have done).  Christ Jesus died to forgive us our sin and our sins.  We continue to confess our sins (meaning “to say the same thing about sin that God does) to stay in fellowship with God and with other believers.  When we do that, we can claim the promise that God is faithful and just to forgive.  He is faithful in the sense that He has promised to forgive and will keep His promise.  He is just to forgive because of the substitutionary work of Jesus on the cross.

Chapter 2 – Belonging to Christ

1. How does it make you feel that Jesus speaks in our defense (2:1).  (A) It is a fulfillment of His promise to never leave me or forsake me.  His role as my advocate (defense attorney) assures me that there is a continual and ongoing forgiveness of sin until that day that I am glorified.
2. V. 2 says, “He is the sacrifice for our sins.”  He takes the place of the lamb on the altar of sacrifice and fulfills, or satisfies, the demands of God’s holiness for the punishment for sins.  The term for this is “Propitiation” meaning appeasement or satisfying.
3. The rest of the verse reads, “He takes away not only our sins but the sins of the whole world.”  How can that be if not all are saved?  (A) “for the whole world” refers not to every single individual, but to mankind in general.  Christ actually paid the penalty only for those who would repent and believe.  In fact, most of the world will be eternally condemned to hell to pay for their own sins (their choice), so they could not have been paid for by Christ.  “The world” actually gets a temporary reprieve for sin while alive on this earth, at least until their death and judgment.  Jesus fully satisfied the wrath of God eternally only for the elect who believe (see John 10:11,15; 17:9,20; Acts 20:28; Rom. 8:28-37; Eph. 5:25).  I include these verses because many still believe that the sins of everyone were forgiven on the cross.  If so, why isn’t everyone saved?  If so, what then was the purpose of the cross and why be born again.
4. What is the relationship between God’s love and our obedience?  (vv.3-6)?  (A) “For God so loved the world… that whoever believes in Him…”  God’s role in salvation was the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of all who would repent of their sins and believe in Him.  God assures us of our salvation through the indwelling work of the HS, and the believer’s role in the assurance of being genuinely saved is obedience to His Word.  Obedience is the external, visible proof of salvation.  The false teachers refused to obey God’s commands.
5. What is the commandment that John writes of in v.7,8?  Why is it new?  Why is it old?  (A) The commandment is to love one another and is the mark of the true believer.  Love is the fulfillment of the OT Law (Matt.22: 34-40), and it is Christ’s new commandment (John 13:34; 15:12;17).  It is also new because no one ever loved or taught love as Jesus did.  He is the personification of love in every aspect and it is the type of love we are called to.
6. What are the two tests given in these verses for determining whether one really knows God (vv. 2:3,10)?  (A) V. 3 – by obeying His commandments and v.10 – by loving other Christians.
7. Vv.9-11 talk about hating a Christian Brother or sister.  V. 11 says, “Anyone who hates a Christian Brother or sister is living and walking in darkness.  Such a person is lost, having been blinded by the darkness.”  V.10 mentions not causing anyone else to stumble.  How do these verses contrast love that is true and love that is false?  (A) If a person professes to be a Christian and yet hates those who are truly Christians, it is a sure sign that he is still living in darkness.  It is not a case of backsliding – the person continues to be what he has always been, unsaved.  On the other hand, the one who characteristically loves his brother lives in the light and does not cause another brother to stumble (fall into sin).
8. In vv.12-14, John addresses three stages of spiritual growth, being forgiven and coming to know God as their heavenly Father; “Children” – just beginning –your sins have been forgiven; “young men” – who, while not yet having the mature experience of knowing God in the Word and through life, do have sound doctrine.  They are strong against sin and error because they have the Word of God in them.  “Fathers” – the most mature, having a deep knowledge of the Eternal God in His fullness.  Which do you identify with?  Why?
9. Why are we not to love this world and all that it offers (v.15)?  Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, the world system has been against God and His principles.  The verse says that the world is evil and if we love evil, we cannot love the Father.  Watch television for five minutes and the evil and lust portrayed there is an indication of what the world is about.  It is all about fulfilling the lusts that bombard us with their temptation- all it serves is Satan.
10. What are some of the characteristics of the antichrists that have appeared in the world since the first coming of Christ?  (A) These are the false teachers and deceivers we have seen in every one of the epistles.  One of their characteristics is that they have left the churches and the faithful.  They arise in the church and leave the true fellowship and lead people out with them.  Their opposite are those who endure in faith and fellowship and the truth.  A second characteristic is that they deny the faith, that is, sound doctrine.  Anyone denying the true nature of Christ is presented in Scripture as an antichrist.
11. What separates true believers from these antichrists.  V. 20, “But you are not like that, for the HS has come upon you, and all of you know the truth.”  The word used in this phrase in the NKJV is “anointing,” a good description of which is in Eph. 3:16,20- “That He would grant you to be strengthened with might through His Holy Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts in faith.”  “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”  The anointing occurs when we are set apart by Christ at conversion and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us forever, giving us every spiritual blessing we will ever need and sealing us for eternity.  It is the Spirit who gives us the clear understanding of the truth (v.27).
12. Many professing Christians believe that once they have said the words “I believe” and go through the baptism ceremony, they can put their Christianity on the back burner, assured that their faith is sealed.  John says in v. 28 that we are to continue to live in fellowship with Christ.  The word is “Abiding” in other versions and means a continual endurance while waiting for the glorious future prepared for the believer. One doesn’t fill his car’s tank with fuel, tune the engine, pack his bags, store them in the trunk, and then leave the car in the garage!  It is of no use unless the rubber meets the road!

Chapter 3 –Living As Children of God

1.      V. 2 tells us that we are already children of God.  When does that happen?  When we are baptized?  Converted?  Anointed with the Spirit?  (A) Actually, all of the above are true, depending on which baptism (spiritual baptism when, at conversion, we are baptized into Christ, or water baptism, the ceremonial union with Him) you are referring to.  Everyone who exercises genuine saving faith becomes a child of God at the moment of belief (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16; 2 Pet. 1:4) although the completed child of God will not become evident until Jesus returns.  Meanwhile, the HS is working us into the image of Christ (sanctification)(2 Cor. 3:18).  This is the believer’s “hope,” the moment of our glorification when Christ conforms every believer into His image, that is, His perfect nature.

2.      Vv.28-3:3  admonish us to live in fellowship with Christ.  What does v.3:3  say to you?  (A) This also speaks of the believer’s hope and says that living in the reality of Christ’s return makes a difference in a Christian’s behavior.  Since Christians will some day be like Him, a desire should grow within the believer to become like Him now.  How?  It calls for a purifying of sin, of which we play a part (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Tim. 5:22).  It is the work we are called to.

3.      V. 4-10 deal with the Christian’s incompatibility with sin.  Remember the context – the Gnostic false teachers denied the significance of sin and the need for obedience.  In these verses, we deal with why the true Christian cannot habitually sin.  The key word here is habitually:

q       The first reason why Christians cannot practice sin is that sin is unable to coexist with the law of God (v.4), which is love (Rom. 7:12,22).  It is more than just disobedience against His law, it suggests outright rebellion.

q       It is incompatible with the work of Christ (v.5).  To sin is contrary to Christ’s work of breaking the power of sin in the believer’s life (Rom. 6:1-15).

q       Because Christ came to destroy the works of Satan (v.8).  The devil is still operating and deceiving in sin, but he has been defeated and in Christ, we escape his oppression.  Some day his evil works will be put to an end.

q       Because it is unable to get along with the ministry of the HS, who has given a new nature to the believer (John 3:5-8).  This is the new birth (born again) of the believer, when God us makes new creatures with new natures (2 Cor. 5:17) (v.9).

4.      There is a huge difference between how the world defines love and how God defines it.  How do you define it?  How does God (through John, vv. 16-18)? (A) God set the benchmark for measuring every expression of love by giving up the life of His Son so that we might have eternal life.  We are called to that same level of love.  Of course, this involves the ultimate sacrifice, but love is not limited that way.  It shows itself in many different ways; in sacrificial giving to other Christian’s needs.  It is not just talking about love and claiming that we do, but really showing it by our actions.  It is by those actions that we prove our salvation.

5.      In the closing verses of chapter three, John continues his definition of what love is and the benefits it gives the believer.  We have already seen the assurance of salvation as one.  Name two other benefits to the believer.  (A)  A second benefit is answered prayer (v.19).  Loves presence in the believer shows his submission to God, which He blesses by answered prayer.  A third benefit is the presence and power of the HS who lives in us continually.

Chapter 4 –Discerning False Prophets

The problem John addresses in his letter is the teaching of false doctrine by the Gnostic teachers who pervert God’s holy Word. 

1.      What does John admonish his readers to do about this problem?  (A) He commands them not to believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit, but to test them to see if their spirit actually comes from God.  Believers are to be the Berean believers in Acts 17:11,12 who were students of the Word and examined Scripture closely to determine truth or error.

2.      How can we determine if the teacher is a demonic spirit or the Holy Spirit (v.2)?  (A)  1) they acknowledge and proclaim that Jesus is God incarnate in human flesh.  The Greek does not mean that they confess that Christ as having come to earth, but that they confess that He came in the flesh to earth, that is, His human body was physically real.  The HS testifies to the true nature of the Son while Satan denies and perverts the truth.

3.      Vv. 5,6 give us the second test of a true teacher of the Word: they speak God’s Word, following apostolic doctrine (“those who know God listen to us”).  The last words of Scripture in the Book of Revelation tells us that any one who either adds or takes away from these holy words of Scripture will have his part in God’s eternal plan taken from him and he will suffer all the plagues listed in the book.  Every false doctrine adds and takes away from God’s already finished Word.

4.      In vv. 7-21, John gives us five reasons why Christians love:

q       Because God is the spirit of love (vv.7,8).  Love is inherent in all He says and does, even in His judgment and wrath toward sin.  We are to love as He loves, making it a habitual way of life.

q       We love to follow the supreme example of God’s sacrificial love in sending His Son for us (v.9).  It is not that we loved Him, but that He loved us.  Our action should be the same.

q       We love because it is the very heart of the Christian witness.  The only demonstration of God’s love in this age is the church.  That testimony is crucial and we are the example by which people see God.

q       Because love is the Christian’s assurance (vv.13-16).  We live in God forever.

q       Because love is the Christian’s confidence in judgment (vv.17-20).  We have no fear because God first loved us and His love is perfected in us.

Chapter 5 – Faith In the Son of God

To combat the false teaching of the Gnostic leaders, John has given his readers several tests of life to reaffirm their true faith.  He now once again takes up the test of doctrine, or we might say, the test of faith.

1.      In the first three verses, John gives us the result of faith, which are:  1) the divine birth - whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.  Note:  Belief is not merely intellectual, but rather a commitment of one’s life to Christ; 2) then love for God – if we are truly born again, we will love Him; 3) then love for one’s fellow believers; 4) finally, obedience to God’s commandments – true believers are characterized by their desire to do God’s will.

2.      V. 3 says, “Loving God means keeping His commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult.”  Other versions say, “His commands are not burdensome.”  The word “burdensome conveys a much heavier, oppressive load, but His commandments aren’t oppressive at all.  Why not?  Or are they for you?  (A) Certainly for the Jew, keeping His commandments (and the many man-made commandments) proved to be a burden.  Can we on our own obey the complete letter of the law?  No, we cannot.  However, we have the HS who empowers us to stay on the path of righteousness and truth.  We trust Christ to give us the victory over sin.

3.      What are the “three witnesses” to Jesus Christ?  (A) The Spirit is the Testimony (bears witness) to the truth (v.6b), that there are three witnesses in heaven – the Spirit, the water, and the blood-  and all three agree.  He says this as additional proof and confirmation to the apostolic testimony John and other apostles gave to the reality of Christ.

4.      In what way did Jesus come by the “water and the blood (v.6)?”  (A) These two elements are the external witness to who Jesus is.  They refer to His baptism (water) and His death (blood).  The Gnostics taught that the “Christ-Spirit left the man Jesus before His death.  John wrote to show that God gave His testimony through the Holy Spirit to the deity of Jesus through both His baptism and His death.

5.      What does God testify about His Son (v.11)?  (A) He has given us eternal life and this life is His Son!  What conclusion can we derive from this statement?  (A) He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son does not have life (v.12).  It means that eternal life is not found in higher education or philosophy, or science or good works or religion or the church.  To have life, one must have the Son of God.  Eternal life is inseparable from Jesus Christ.

6.      when did you come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God (v.5)?  What change has this made in your life?  ___________________________________________   _________________________________________________________________.

7.      What things can a Christian know absolutely (v.13-18)?  (A) If you believe in the Son of God, you have eternal life.  If that is true, we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will (the key being “His will”).  We know He is listening so we can have absolute confidence that He will give us what we ask for when we are in His will (this is answered prayer) (v.15).  V. 18 says that we have victory over sin and Satan.  Because the believer belongs to God, Satan must operate within God’s sovereignty and cannot function beyond what God allows, as in the example of Job.  Satan can persecute, tempt, test, and accuse the believers, but God protects His children and places definite limits on Satan’s influence and power (John 10:28: 17: 12-15).  That Christians belong to God is the fourth certainty.  Only two types of people are in the world – those who are children of God and those who are children of Satan.  That Jesus Christ is the true Son of God is the fifth certainty, the truth that sums up the entire letter and is the greatest truth of all, the Incarnation of Jesus, which guarantees the rest.