1 John 1 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 John 1:1-4

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

A. Find Out:    

1. What was John proclaiming? v.1a.c
2. How did he know about it? v.1b
3. What had appeared? v.2
4. What had they proclaimed and why? v.3a,b
5. Where was his fellowship? v.3c
6. Why was he writing? v.4

B. Think:

1. In what various ways did John describe Jesus here?
2. How did John show he was a reliable witness?
3. What, therefore, does all this say about this letter?

C. Comment:

     In a whole variety of ways, John emphasizes the uniqueness of Jesus in these verses.  He first describes him as “that which was from the beginning” (v.1), and there we find echoes of John 1:1,2 where he shows Jesus to have existed from before the creation of the world.

     Second, he calls him “the Word of life” (v.1), again similarly echoing John 1, where he describes Jesus as the expression of God (see “Behold the Lamb” in this Studies). Jesus is the expression of God who brings life.

    Third, he describes him as “the eternal life” (v.2), placing an emphasis on Jesus’ immortality and life-giving capacity.  Usually when we speak about eternal life we tend to think of our lives stretching out into infinity,  i.e. the time dimension of it, but John says Jesus IS the eternal life, so it is only “in Christ” are we eternal.   He is the very means of our having a life that will not end, because he does not end.

      Fourth, he speaks of him as the one who “was with the Father” (v.2) showing again that Jesus came from heaven (see also John 6:33,38,46,50,58). The Son existed with the Father, left His presence in heaven, came and lived on earth, and then returned to the Father in heaven, which is where he now dwells.

     Fifth, he describes him as the one who has “appeared to us” (v.2), emphasizing the fact that God has come down and made Himself known. The staggering truth of Christianity is that God has come down in human form to us, the form of His Son.

     Sixth, he describes him as God’s “Son” (v.3), emphasizing his form and relationship to the Father.   As one of the early church creeds put it: “He is God of the substance of the Father begotten before the world, and He is man of the substance of His mother born in the world; perfect God, perfect man”.

    Seventh, he describes him as “Jesus Christ” (v.3), clearly identifying him as the Messiah who came in the form of the man Jesus from Nazareth.  As “the Christ” he was the one spoken of in the prophetic Scriptures, the Coming One.

    Note also the down-to-earth nature of John’s testimony.   Look, he says in all of the first three verses, we’ve encountered and experienced this One with all of our senses. We’re not making this up!   This is a testimony that can be trusted and believed!

    Finally in these content-packed verses, note the order of what John is saying:

•  we have seen ‘the life’ (i.e. we fellowshipped with him – implied)
•  we now testify to it and proclaim it to you
•  so that you can fellowship with us
•  so that you can fellowship with him (implied) 

     This word ‘fellowship’ is going to come up again and again.

D. Application:

1. Assurance.

•   John met and knew Jesus well.  He can be believed. If your faith needs strengthening, let these studies do that.

2. Uniqueness.

•  Jesus is the one and only Son of God from heaven. Worship him!

Passage: 1 John 1:5-7

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

A. Find Out:

1. What message was he proclaiming? v.5
2. How did he say we may lie? v.6
3. What two things happen when we walk in the light? v.7

B. Think:

1. What do you think John means when he says, “God is light”?
2. What do you think is the significance of ‘fellowship’ here?
3. How does all this affect us as human beings?

C. Comment:

     John has just said (v.3) that our fellowship (as Christians) is with God.  Fellowship means a close, intimate sharing.  The key thing about a Christian is that they ‘know’ God.   They don’t just know about Him, but they have experience of Him.

     Now, he goes on, we have received a message from God (v.5) that we have got to pass on.  There is a sequence here: we have seen and heard the word (v.3) and now he’s given us a message to pass on.  When we truly encounter God, He always says something.    It’s in His nature to communicate to the ones He loves.

     So what was the message?  God is light and there is no darkness in Him (v.5).  This is his starting place.  It starts with the nature of God.  God is light, God is pure, holy and righteous. Darkness, impurity, worldliness and unrighteousness simply can’t exist in Him.   Put in it’s simplest terms: God is full of goodness and therefore anything less is not part of him.

   Once we grasp that, there is a logical conclusion: if you say you have fellowship with God you have to be walking in the light (v.6).   Remember we said fellowship meant close intimate sharing?   If you have ‘darkness’ (wrong) in your life, you can’t possibly have close intimate sharing with the One who is utterly good.

     In his teaching John picks out and uses a number of wrong ways of thinking to use and contrast with the truth. This, in verse 6, is the first of those: the people who claimed to know God and fellowship with Him, yet walked in wrong (darkness).

     If you’re walking in darkness, you can’t be in the light and you can’t know God.  Here is a very sharp truth that we need to see.  Therefore anyone who maintains wrong (sin) in their lives cannot claim to be knowing and walking closely with God.  To know God means your life will change and you will cease to allow wrong to remain in it.

     Next comes a second logical conclusion: if we are walking with God in the light then we have fellowship with one another.   As soon as we are walking in the light with God then there comes a closeness to one another.   Absence of fellowship with one another perhaps indicates an absence of fellowship with God!

     Not only that, there is a third logical conclusion: by living in the light, close to God, we find the effect of the work of Christ on the Cross is there purifying us from our sin. 

D. Application:

1. In the light? 

•  If we are living in Jesus’ light then our lives must exclude darkness, anything bad.

2. In the light? 

•  If I am living in this light then there must be nothing between me and other Christians.

Passage: 1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

A. Find Out:

1. What happens if we claim to be without sin? v.8
2. What happens when we confess our sins? v.9
3. What do we do if we claim we haven’t sinned? v.10

B. Think:

1. What was the point John made in verses 5 to 7?
2. How do verses 8 & 9 explain verse 7?
3. What is the end outworking of these three verses?

C. Comment:

     You’ll see from the study numbering above that we have inserted this study in response to a request to cover these verses in more detail and so we have split and expanded the previous study no.2.

     These present verses are often taken out of context and misunderstood.  It’s important therefore to see what goes before them.   John has been making the point that because God is light, if you’re walking in darkness, you can’t be in the light and you can’t know God.   Because he is still John the Evangelist (as some scholars call him – see John 20:31) he wants to pick up anyone who hasn’t come into the light yet, who hasn’t come to know God through Christ.  To come into the light, we have to go down a particular path and so he lays that out here.

    The starting point of the Gospel (Good News) is always ‘bad news’ – we are sinners who need saving.   So, says John to those who have not yet come to the light and who believed they were all right, (including the Gnostics of his day) if you say you haven’t any sin you’re kidding yourself!  God says we have, so if you say you haven’t, you’re challenging God!

     Here in verse 8, and then in verse 10, is the second of those wrong ways of thinking we referred to in the previous study:  people who claimed not to be sinners, who said they had no need of the Gospel.  No, the first step to salvation is acknowledging and facing up to the truth that you are a sinner and need help, you do sin, you do get it wrong.

     But the Christian message doesn’t leave you in a guilt-ridden mess, it does something about it.   So, he goes on, if you confess it (acknowledge and turn away from it) then God will deal with it for you.   He will forgive us AND cleanse us of it, i.e.  He will take away our guilt AND take away the sin!   There is a twofold removal here in the Gospel.

    It is the latter one that John is really focusing on here because of his theme so far – come to God, be transformed and let Him remove the darkness from you.  If the darkness is removed, you will live good and godly lives.  That is what he, as a good pastor, is aiming for.

    So, he concludes, if we deny our need we are denying God and we can’t possibly say we have fellowship with Him and we can’t say we are Christians!  That is the power and strength of all he is saying.  Wow!

D. Application:

1. How we come to the light?

•   Coming to the light is via confession.   Is that a natural part of our Christian lives?

2. Aware of sins?

•  The path of dealing with sin