FIRST, SECOND and THIRD JOHN Overview

BOOK ORIGIN

• John is the author of 1-3 John and has the same message as the book of John, only these later books confirm the certainty of the Christian faith

BOOK OUTLINE

BOOK COMMENTS

• John 1-3 were written to believers; they are discipleship chapters  <H84>

• A true believer lives a pattern of life which is conformed, over time, to what God has revealed to us about His nature and will

• This transformation will be evident by:  <P169>

1. Walking in the light

1 John 1:5-7 NIV

[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.

2. Living a life that is marked by sensitivity to sin, confession, and repentance

1 John 1:8-10 NIV

[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.

3. Seeking to keep God’s commands

1 John 2:3-4 NIV

[3] We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. [4] Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

4. Walk as Christ walked

1 John 2:5-6 NIV

[5] But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

5. Love their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ

1 John 2:9-10 NIV

[9] Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. [10] Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

6. Have an increasing scorn for the things of this fallen world

1 John 2:15-17 NIV

[15] Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. [16] For everything in the world---the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life---comes not from the Father but from the world. [17] The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

7. Remaining faithful in fellowship

1 John 2:18-19 NIV

[18] Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. [19] They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

8. Professing Christ to be God in the flesh

1 John 4:1-4 NIV

[1] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. [2] This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, [3] but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. [4] You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

9. Personal actions of righteousness

1 John 3:7 NIV

[7] Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

10. Overcoming the world

1 John 5:4-5 NIV

[4] for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. [5] Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

11. Believing we have eternal life in Jesus

1 John 5:13-15 NIV

[13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. [14] This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us---whatever we ask---we know that we have what we asked of him.