Study Notes & Overview 1st John 1:1-2:6

07-09-22
Historical Overview Of John 1

AUTHOR: John

TIME WRITTEN: Probably about A.D. 90 from Ephesus

POSITION IN THE BIBLE:

• 62nd Book in the Bible

• 23rd Book in the New Testament

• 18th of 21 Epistle Books (Romans - Jude)

John authored five books of the New Testament. • John • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Revelation

Background

At this point, John was probably the last remaining apostle who was still alive. On church leader
(Papias) called John a “living and abiding voice.” John’s ministry was centred in Ephesus where he
taught and oversaw the churches in Asia Minor. Gnosticism was beginning to seep into the churches
and gain a foothold. As John was an eyewitness to Christ and new that this heresy and all it stood for
was full of lies, he sought to use his authority to encourage believers to stay true to the real faith
and keep heresies in all forms out of the churches.

Quick Outline of 1 John

Disclaimer: this may be the toughest book of the Bible to outline. With all John’s reasons to write,
scholars have a hard time forming an outline from John’s letter.

But the central focus of First John seems to be distinguishing the false teachers from children of God,
so here’s my take:

The children of God keep His commands (1 Jn 1–3)

The Spirit of God affirms Jesus’ first coming (1 Jn 4:1–6)

The children of God love one another (1 Jn 4:7–21)

Things the child of God can know (1 Jn 5)

Session 1 Outline:
I. The personal, eyewitness testimony of John (1-4)

II. God is the Light and we can have fellowship with Him (5-7)

III. We are all sinners, but can be forgiven if we confess (8-10

IV. The purpose of the book is to keep us from sinning (2:1-2)

V. Practice what you preach (2:3-6)

 Study Notes & Overview 1st John 1:1-2:6
07-09-22
I. The personal, eyewitness testimony of John (1-4)

Who does “we” refer to? If John wrote this book himself, why does he say “we”?

Why was it important that he had heard, seen, and touched Christ himself?

What does the Word of Life refer to? What does this name tell us about Christ?

John saw these things and what did he do with this knowledge (verse 2)? Is there any lesson there
for us as to what we should do with the knowledge we have of God?

What does he mean by the phrase “so that you too may have fellowship with us?”

In what way does these things give joy?

II. God is the Light and we can have fellowship with Him (5-7)

What verb do you see in verse 5 that again shows John sharing what he has learned? Why does he
use the word “announce/ Proclaim”?

What does it mean that “God is Light?” How is this similar to what John wrote in the Gospel of John?
Where did he use similar vocabulary about Jesus there?

What does the Light represent? How about the darkness?

How do we have fellowship with Christ? How can we have better fellowship with Christ?

What does it mean to walk in darkness? We are all sinners so do we all walk in darkness? What clues
can we get from the phrase “practice the truth”?

What does it mean that we have fellowship with one another?

III. We are all sinners, but can be forgiven if we confess (8-10)

Have you ever heard anyone say they have no sin? Do you have sin? Is your sin serious? Why would
someone think that they have no sin or that their sin is not serious?

What hope do we have? Is it enough to confess our sins once? Who do we confess to (ie: who is the
one forgiving us?)

IV. The purpose of the book is to keep us from sinning (2: 1-2)

What is John’s purpose in writing the book?

What does the word “Advocate” mean? In what way is Jesus our advocate?

What does the word “propitiation” mean?

 Study Notes & Overview 1st John 1:1-2:6
07-09-22
So what did our Advocate do for us?

V. Practice what you preach (2:3-6)

How can you tell if your relationship with God is real or fake?

What do you see here about the relationship between the words that we say and our actions?

What does it mean to be “in Him”? What does it mean to abide in Him?

Notes:

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