Bible Commentaries
1 John

INTRODUCTION

AUTHORSHIP OF THE EPISTLE

The evidence which obtains regarding the genuineness, authenticity, and canonicity of the Epistle of First John is abundant, reliable, and entirely satisfactory. No other book of the New Testament comes down to us with stronger claims on our credence than this. It may indeed be traced historically almost to the very hand of the disciple himself. Two of John’s pupils, Polycarp and Papias, quote from it, attributing it to their teacher. The Muratorian Fragment refers to it in connection with the authorship of the epistle, and it is included in the Peshito and Itala Versions. Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Origen, Cyprian, and many others of the socalled church fathers used it and thus witness to its traditional authorship. On the assumption that it was composed during the last decade of the first century, the witness of Polycarp and Papias extends to within twenty years of its composition; and when to this the consideration is added that these men were themselves students under the apostle and thus fully able to detect any fabrication of the writings of their teacher, yet accepted it as a product of the pen of the apostle to whom it is attributed, the evidence is such as is sufficient to convince any reasonable and candid mind. Inasmuch as much of the form and content of the Gospel according to John is reproduced in the Epistle, those who regard that work as a production of the apostle have no difficulty in attributing the Epistle to the same author. From the earliest period following the apostolic age there has been the conviction that the Epistle presumed to be, and actually was, the work of John the apostle. Inasmuch as the author never names himself, this conviction of writers both ancient and modern cannot be satisfactorily explained save on the ground that it is true, and that it began with the first readers who received the Epistle from the author who was known to them personally, and who thus became competent witnesses of its apostolic origin.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE APOSTLE JOHN

The name "John" is from the Greek loannes, a term derived from the Hebrew Jehohanan, "Jehovah is gracious." He was theson of Zebedee, a well-to-do fisherman on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:20; Luke 5:10), and Salome, one of the women who followed the Lord and were with him at his crucifixion (Matt. 27 56). He had a younger brother, James (Matthew 4:21), with whom he is often mentioned, and he lived in Bethsaida (Luke 5:10 ; Join 1:44). References, in the sacred writings, to "hired servants," his mother’s "substance" (Luke 8:3), his "own home" (John 19:27), and his acquaintance with the high priest (John 18:15), indicate a position of influence and means. From John 1:35-39 we may infer that he was first a disciple of John the Baptist, and later left him to follow Jesus after the stirring announcement of the harbinger: "Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:35-36.)

John, the apostle, was a close associate and friend of Simon Peter, and the two are mentioned together with great frequency, both in the books of the Gospel, and Acts of Apostles. They suffered imprisonment together in Jerusalem, following the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and together went to Samaria to impart the Holy Spirit to the converts of Philip there. (Acts 4:13; Acts 8:14-25.) James, brother of John, suffered martyrdom under Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2.) John was one of the "pillars" of the church in Jerusalem on the occasion of Paul’s visit there, recorded in Galatians 2:1 ff, and assisted in settling the controversy over circumcision which occasioned the conference mentioned in Acts 15.

From implications which occur in the historical references to the apostle in the New Testament we are led to believe that he went to Ephesus, was exiled to Patmos where the visions of the Revelation occurred; that he outlived all, or nearly all, of those with whom he was associated in his earlier years, including the other apostles; and that his lingering years were spent in combatting the numerous heresies which prevailed particularly in Ephesus. Tradition has it that when his capacity to work and to teach was gone, when he lacked even the strength to stand alone, he directed that he be borne to the meeting of the saints where, rising unsteadily and supporting himself with his cane, he would say with quavering voice, "Little children, love one another!"

Though one of the most prominent of the New Testament characters, and of frequent mention in our day because of the books which he left, there is surprisingly little of a historical nature recorded in the Bible concerning him. Though he wrote five books of the New Testament, viz., the Gospel according to John, the Epistles of First, Second, and Third John, and the Revelation--about one-fifth of the entire volume of the New Testament--his name is mentioned in the books of the Gospel only twenty times, and half of these include no more than the mere mention of his name. These books mention John the Baptist more than four times as often as they mention John the Apostle! And, of the five books which he himself wrote, his name occurs only five times, and all of these in the Book of Revelation, revealing little more than the fact that the visions there recorded were vouchsafed to him

The only time he is mentioned alone in the synoptics is when he bore information to Jesus that he had forbidden a man to cast out demons because he did not belong to their company, a spirit of intolerance which Jesus rebuked. (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49.) The only two times the two brothers are mentioned alone in these books are when they sought to call down fire on the inhospitable Samaritans, and when their mother made the unreasonable request that they be allowed to occupy chief positions in the kingdom. And yet Jesus loved John more than any other man who ever lived. He was charged by the Lord with the care of his mother Mary and served faithfully as a son in this honored capacity. He apparently came nearer to the heart of the Master than any other disciple. He appears to have revealed more of the heart of the Saviour than any of the other New Testament writers. Matthew and Mark and Luke busied themselves in the recital of what Jesus did; John was particularly concerned in telling us how Jesus felt and what he thought!

There was a tradition in the apostolic age, grounded on a misapprehension of the Lord’s words to Peter, "If I will that he (John) tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me" (John 21:21), that John would live until the Lord returned. His lingering age evidently gave credence to this impression, and though John did not himself share the view, yet as if recalling the actual words of the Lord on that occasion, the intense longing of his soul gathered itself up in the heart-felt cry, as he prepared to lay his pen forevermore aside. "Even so, come Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20.) Intervening centuries have supplied their full quota of traditional matter regarding the apostle, most of which is either impossible or absurd; and we are without solid ground for drawing any definite conclusions regarding the place, time, or circumstances of his death. In the absence of such factual evidence, perhaps we would do well to remember the Master’s rebuke to Peter, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me."

For the reasons set out under "Date and Place of Writing," we are justified in drawing the conclusion that all of John’s writings were composed late in the apostolic age, and after the death of the other New Testament writers. It was thus his function to supplement the writings of the others, and to close forevermore the sacred canon. For approximately sixteen hundred years men from Moses to John, about forty in number, had been instruments in the hands of the Spirit to reveal God’s will to men, and it remained for this disciple whom Jesus loved best to set the seal on the faith once delivered to the saints. This he did when he penned the final words of the Revelation. And though new light may indeed break out from the deposit of truth which is the New Testament, through more accurate translation and from intenser application and more consecrated study, the word itself will receive no further additions. With John’s final production, the words of Paul were fulfilled (1 Cor. 13:18ff), prophecies failed, tongues ceased, supernatural knowledge ended.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPISTLE

The similarity which exists between the First Epistle of John and the "Gospel" which bears his name is striking and obvious. This likeness extends to style, vocabulary, form, and content, and is of such nature as to convince the most casual reader that both compositions are from the same hand. Peculiarities of expression, turns of thought, and a fondness for key words and phrases occurring in the "Gospel" are repeatedly noted in the Epistle. "Life," "light," "love," "darkness," "death," "the world," "fellowship," "truth," are among the words which occur with amazing regularity in both books. Of the approximately two hundred and ninety-five different words in the vocabulary of the Epistle, only sixty-nine of them do not appear in the "Gospel."

There is here the same recurrence of ideas so characteristic of the Gospel according to John. Note, for example, the repetition of love in the following passage: "Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man hath beheld God as any time; if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:7-12. Cf. John 5:31-39. See 1 John 5:7-11 for the recurrence of the word witness in the same manner.)

The same vivid and pointed contrasts are noticeable in both books. As in the Gospel, so here in the Epistles, life and death, light and darkness, children of God and children of the devil, love of God and love of the world, righteousness and unrighteousness, Christ and anti-Christ, are again and again set over against each other in sharp contrast.

The teaching is identical and is presented in much the same fashion. (1) Christ is announced as the Word (logos), the complete expression of deity (John 1:1; 1 John 1:1-3), a concept peculiar to the apostle whom Jesus loved. (2) Only in the writings of John is Jesus styled the "only begotten Son." (John 3 16; 1 John 4:9.) (3) The books begin with the same idea they close with the same thought. (Cf. John 21:25; 1 John 5:13.) (4) In at least thirty-five passages in the two productions, the thought is parallel, and in many of these instances, the same words and phrases are used. It is therefore not a matter of surprise that almost all scholars who believe that John wrote one of these books ascribes the other to him also. It has been said that it would be more feasible to assign any two of Shakespeare’s plays to different authors than the "Gospel" and the First Epistle of John. They are, by all candid and reasonable standards, of the same family, and hence belong together.

The Epistle places great emphasis on love and has been called "The Epistle of Love." The word "love" and its derivatives occur fifty-one times. Various forms of the verb "know" occur in its vocabulary. It was a favorite term with the apostle, possibly in refutation of the peculiar theories of the Sophists and Gnostics who boasted of their superior knowledge. There are many assurances in the Epistle. "We know that we have passed out of death into life . . . " (1 John 3:14.) "We know that we are of the truth." (3:19.) "We know that he abideth in us." (3:24.) It is an Epistle of fellowship, the two conditions being righteousness and love. (1 John 1:7-10.) The book is an Epistle of victory: "Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." (4:4.) In the first chapter, the way to victory over sin is pointed out. The second chapter declares victory over the evil one. The victory of righteousness is proclaimed in the third chapter. In the fourth chapter we are shown the victory of love. The fifth chapter is a glorious demonstration of the victory of faith.

DESIGN OF THE EPISTLE

An indication of the general purpose and design of the Epistle may be gathered from the following affirmations of the apostle himself: "And these things we write, that our joy may be made full . . ." "These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 1:4; 1 John 5:13.) By the side of this indication of purpose on the part of the apostle may be placed the declared design of the Gospel according to John. "Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God:and that believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30-31.) We are thus to gather that in a general sense the purpose of both productions was to supply, in credible fashion, the evidence essential to faith, to quicken the readers to greater activity in the service of the Lord, and to provide assurance of God’s approval upon all those who "believe on the name of the Son of God."

In order to the accomplishment of these objectives, it was necessary for the apostle to combat, in vigorous fashion, the various forms of evil then prevailing, and to warn the saints of the deadly nature thereof. Pernicious teaching regarding the person of Christ was afloat, and there were those in the church who had imbibed its poison and apostatized from the faith. (1 John 2 19.) Some denied the deity of the Lord; others, his humanity. The former said that Jesus was not Christ; the latter, that Christ was not Jesus. Unbelieving Jews were in the vanguard of those who denied his deity; the Gnostics questioned his humanity. There were two groups of these Gnostics--the Docetic Gnostics, who denied the actual humanity of Christ, and the Cerinthian Gnostics, who attempted to distinguish between the man Jesus and the Christ which they alleged descended upon Jesus at his baptism and left him on the cross. The word "Gnostic" is derived from the Greek gnosis, knowledge, and they were so designated because of their claims to superior knowledge.

Gnosticism, whether of the Docetic or Cerinthian brand, was an admixture of paganism and corrupt Christianity. Basically, the theory regarded evil as an ever-present characteristic of matter, and its advocates were, therefore, unable to accept the doctrine of the incarnation--the assumption of flesh on the part of the Lord--on the ground that they believed it impossible for sinless deity to occupy a material body. They hence argued that the body of Jesus was not real, but an illusion and that the sufferings on the cross were apparent and not actual. The theory, in its practical aspects, was especially pernicious because its devotees were led into a course of conduct essentially wicked and vile in nature. Inasmuch as they regarded their bodies as evil, they concluded that their spirits were independent of them, and thus undefiled by them. They contended that once regenerated, they were pure in spirit, and it mattered not what the body did, since it was inherently evil anyway. They lived lives of unrestrained indulgence, on the ground that a jewel might lie in a dunghill and be just as much of a gem as in the most costly case! They believed that it was inevitable that their bodies should sin, and they argued that a thorough understanding of these matters left them free to indulge in any course of action which they preferred. It was this alleged superior knowledge which prompted them to style themselves the Gnostics.

There is a tradition which, if true, indicates the extreme distaste with which John the apostle regarded Cerinthus, advocate of this theory. Irenaeus, a pupil of Polycarp, who was himself a student of John, relates that Polycarp told him that the apostle, "the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bathhouse without bathing, exclaiming, Let us fly, lest even the bathhouse fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." (Against Heresies, Book 3, ch. 3, 4.)

In proof of the reality of the Lord’s fleshly body, John offered testimony involving three of his five senses! He had heard, he had seen, and his hands had handled the Word of life, Jesus Christ the Lord. (1 John 1:1-3.) And, in refutation of the wicked theories of unindulged activity in sin, the apostly repeatedly pointed out in the Epistle that only those who do righteousness are righteous, only those who are pure have hope, and those those who habitually sin are of the devil. The Epistle is thus a clarion call to purity, a positive affirmation that those who are children of God have his "seed" in them, and cannot persistently continue in a life of sin because they are begotten of God." (3:1-9.)

PERSONS ADDRESSED

Inasmuch as the Epistle of First John is without an address or superscription, it may rightly and properly be regarded as a "general" or "universal" Epistle, intended for Christians everywhere and in every age. That it was written primarily for Christians of the first century, and particularly for those of Ephesus where John lived and where the Docetic heresies were current, is a matter admitting of little doubt. The "little children." thus tenderly and familiarly addressed, were known to John and were possibly his own converts. (Cf. 3 John 1:4.) The fact that the readers were warned of idols (5:21), indicates that they were of Gentile origin.

DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING

If the testimony of such early writers as Irenaeus (a pupil of Polycarp, who was himself a student under John), who lived in the early decades of the second century, may be regarded as reliable, it seems certain that John spent a number of years near the end of his life at Ephesus in Asia Minor. Inasmuch as the Epistle appears to have been written by an elderly man, we are safe in attributing it to the last years of John, and hence while sojourning in Ephesus, capital of Asia. To this conclusion most conservative scholars have come. There are, moreover, numerous considerations in the book itself which suggest that it was written near the close of the first century. It appeared at a time of external peace. It lacks the admonitions to fortitude under trial characteristic of other and earlier books of the New Testament. It was written to saints of considerable attainment and capable of a profound grasp of theological problems. On the basis of these facts, we assign it to a date just prior to the great outburst of persecution under the Roman Emperor, Domitian, A.D. 94. We think it must have been written about A.D. 90.