Critical Essay on Book of 1st John

Introduction

1st John is more like a summary that assumes the reader has some understanding of the gospel as per John's writing. From the earliest times, 1st John has been attributed to John, the apostle who was also an author of 2nd and 3rd John as well as the Gospel of John. The vocabulary, style, and content seem to affirm that the book of 1st John was addressed to the same persons as that of the gospel of John. It was likely to have been written from 85 A.D. to 95 A.D. According to Cole (2013), the great emphasis of Apostle John was on the difference between the spurious Christianity and the genuine one and how to differentiate between the two. Christian certainty is the predominant theme of John's work in the first John. The book offers assurance for people's faith in Christ. "Knowledge" is the main word in the book in conjunction with its related terms as it occurs several times in 1 John. It indicates that the people were confronted with a serious issue of the Gnosticism error which held that spirit is good but matter is evil and the solution to it was knowledge through which man became spiritual. The gospel message pointed out that the issue led to false theories about the person of Christ including Decotism, which views the human Jesus as a ghost, and Cerinthianism which makes his a dual personality (Cole, 2013). Thus, there are times when Jesus was viewed as human and others divine. The primary purpose of the book of 1st John is to put some boundaries on faith and assure the believers their salvation.

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The Themes of Sin and Justice

Sin was a big part of the early church especially due to the large numbers of false spiritual teachers. In the old days, believers did not have a complete New Testament that they could refer to resulting in many people falling prey to pretenders who only taught their ideas. John's letter was meant to inform the people about the crucial issues that concern the individuality and uniqueness of Jesus Christ. John's message was primarily about the basics of faith in Jesus Christ. It helped people to reflect candidly on their faith and know if they are true believers or not. Believing involved admitting one's sins and seeking for forgiveness from God. 1 John identified the dependence on God for guilt cleansing as well as exposing any wrongdoings against others and striving to make amends as another essential part of knowing God. John the Apostle with his writings did not mean that people had to be perfect. Alternatively, he recognized that faith involved admitting one's sins and seeking forgiveness. Sin is quoted several times in the book of 1 John. One of the most quoted passages is in 1 John 2:16 which describe the three facets of sin that bring to mind the first and most severe temptations in the entire scripture. The disobedience of Adam and Eve, also known as the first sin was brought about by giving in to the same attractions as the ones found in Genesis 3:6. They include the pride of life which is the desire for wisdom, the hope of something pleasing to the eye, and the desire to satisfy the flesh.

The Themes of Love and Generosity

The theme of love is also in abundance in First John as it is also a book of joy and love. 1 John uses simple parallelisms that are striking to the readers. It compares Christ and antichrists, truth and falsehood, sin and righteousness, love of God and love of the world, and light and darkness among others. The scripture straightforwardly presents the world by putting a line between right and wrong. It emphasized the striking difference between the opposite sides with love and recognized that love is a gift from God thus encouraged people to show love one another (1 John 4:7). Additionally, it differentiates between temporary happiness and real joy which can be achieved by applying John's words to the daily habits (Bradley, 2015). Thus, John in his letter encourages people to have the spirit of love even while recognizing the line between righteousness and sin.

John clearly stated the purpose of his letter just as he did in his gospel. He testified the good news of Jesus to his readers saying that his intent was for them to have association with God and Jesus Christ (1 John 1-3). John also stated unequivocally that he intends to keep people from sin (1 John 2:1) and to ensure that they can have eternal life (1 John 5:13). It is evident that John wanted people to have experience of factual fellowship with God and His people which he knew would not come to pass if they did not set aside their selfish desires and pursue what God had for them. The letter focused on three main issues that would help people reach the goal. The problems included the believers' zeal, the ability to stand firm against false teachings, and the reassurance of eternal life. John's targeted readers were churches full of Christians who had gone through discouragements brought about by false teachings and due to their sinful failures. He had the hope of igniting the people's ardor so that they would live a holy life and stand firm against false teachers as well as reassure them of eternal life.

The Themes of Truth and Diligence

First John consists of several truths about Christianity. The first one is that God is light and the people that trust in him can never experience darkness. The truth comes early in the book when the apostle compares light and darkness, truth and falsehood, reality and deception and life and death. John communicates a great truth about God that He is the truth, the light, and the life (Cole, 2013). The proclamation is in contrast with the false teachers who were following the way of death that was full of falsehood, impunity, and deception. John focuses on moral living with the knowledge that God is light. He, therefore, pleads with his readers to steer clear of a sinful life and live accordingly and walk in God's light.

The second truth is that God is love which means that He is the origin and source of enjoyment. Love is the essence of God's being and existence thus anyone that claims to know Him has to love other people (Cole, 2013). Truth is displayed in this essence when God sent his only son to die for the misgivings of the people and reconcile humanity to God since whoever loves has God in them because God is love (1 John 4:9-16). If God loved humanity so much that He gave to die for the world, then love entails an act of sacrifice that puts another person above oneself. It is some selflessness that makes it a priority. The false teachers were selfish and loveless as they did not live in love. So walking in the light and living in love are the essential truths in first John that balance a Christian life.

After digging deep into the scripture of 1 John, I reconsidered living in the light by being generous and showing love to everyone I encounter. I now believe that Jesus Son of God came in the flesh and that he was God in the human body. Sin exists in the world, and I have reconsidered my behavior and the way I lead my life to avoid it at all costs. I have changed the way I showed love to others and decided to demonstrate genuine and biblical love for everyone I come across. I would demonstrate genuine and unconditional love even towards those that come across as arrogant, hostile, and intolerant.

Conclusion

The themes of sin, love, and truth, as well as diligence, generosity, and justice, are in abundance in 1 John. The author of the epistles never gave his name, but since the church began, Christians had the belief that the letter was authored by John, the apostle especially since it was considered authoritative. Polycarp was one of the witnesses who was a second century Bishop who knew John personally while still a young man. Besides, the author of 1 John places himself among the assembly of apostolic eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry and life when he noted that they proclaim what they have seen and heard. He had two purposes for writing the passage which includes attacking and refuting the Cerinthian Gnosticism errors and cultivating assurance of salvation and God's genuine fellowship. He refutes the doctrinal errors about Jesus and the ethical errors of obedience and love and at the same time cultivates assurance of who Jesus is and the reason for his coming. The author did not specify the intended readers of the letter but he most likely had in mind the churches he addressed in Revelation 2-3 when he was writing the letter. He addressed seven churches in Ephesus which were where John ministered. Pointing out the date of composing the letter can be quite challenging as it offers little specifics. Nonetheless, with the similarity of the letter with the gospel of John indicates that it was written at almost the same time as that of the gospel of John. Thus, the best proposition would be about AD 90 as it was the time John was writing from exile on Patmos.

The Scripture in First John fits into the world concerning the daily struggles people face due to their Christian faith. Everybody goes through struggles in their faith which often result in a myriad of emotions. God, through John, calls upon people to live consistent lives that result in a fruitful relationship with Him. It seems that John knew that people would never discover in them the truthfulness that God calls for and for that reason Christians have to completely trust in the civility of God and believe that He will transform them into the image of Jesus. Such a sense of being which is kept afloat in God only comes about when people set aside sinful behavior and pursue the one true God. Besides, John in 1 John 4:12 encourages people to love one another since if they do so, God will abide in them and His love will be perfected in them. John was testing his readers with his writing and is still probing believers and non-believers of this time. He put forth his words to question how people live to see if they are walking in light and truth or darkness.

What stands out is the linking of God to a senseless love and light. Becoming more like the Messiah is the primary goal in all spiritual formations. Whoever says he loves God should show respect to other people and walk in God's light. Christ-like traits are many, but John identifies being generous as the most important since he links Jesus' senseless love which is displayed by dying on the cross for our sins with the people's generosity. The best way to define love is by sacrifice. For instance, love can be described as kind and patient and without envy and boast. Even the most known verse in the Bible defines love by generosity and sacrifice (John 3:16). However, some questions still linger regarding the limit of kindness that we should portray. How much love and generosity should we represent? Does responding to the needs of others include dying for them? Love is not a simple philosophy but rather, loving others is more valuable than defining it. Love is priceless and doing it is what truly matters. God, through 1 John is calling upon the entire humanity to practice generous and sacrificial love and not merely describing and talking about it. In the end, true generosity is a display of faith since we trust that there is a real impact in generously giving our time, resources, and talents.

References

Bradley, J. D. (2015).4 Lessons John's Gospel Teaches Us About Love And Generosity, eChurch...