The primary issue addressed in this letter is the rise and influence of false teaching about spiritual salvation through Christ and how that salvation works in believers' lives. Doctrinally, these false teachers denied that Jesus is the Christ or that Christ came in the flesh. Ethically, they taught that obeying Christ's commands, overcoming worldly desires and avoiding evil were not necessary for spiritual salvation.
The particular variety of false teaching was an early form of Gnosticism, one of the most dangerous heresies.
John had two primary purposes in writing this letter: 1. to expose and challenge his spiritual children to pursue a life of purity and companionship with God that should be shown by their devotion to what is true and right. (2.) Such a life is characterized by the full joy and the assurance of eternal life that come from an obedient faith in Jesus as the Son of God and by the continual presence of the Holy Spirit.
Five major features characterize this letter: 1. It defines the Christian life by using contrasting terms and by seeming to allow no middle ground between light and darkness, truth and lies, righteousness and sin, love and hate, loving God and loving the world. 2. Significantly, it is the only New Testament writing to refer to Jesus as our advocate with the Father when we sin though we are sincere believers in Christ. 3. Its message is grounded almost entirely in John's personal first-hand knowledge of Christ rather than in prior Old Testament revelation; references to Old Testament Scriptures are noticeably absent. 4. Since its teaching is aimed at disapproving a particular kind of false teaching, it focuses on two particular issues related to Jesus: His incarnation and blood. 5. Its style is simple and repetitive as John discusses certain terms such as "light", "truth", "believe", "remain", "know", "love", "righteousness", "witness", "born of God", and "eternal life."
No comments:
Post a Comment