What is 1st John for?

Thankfully John tells us, here in 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Eternal life is the main subject of the letter, and the purpose of the letter is to help these believers know they have it and to grow in it.

1st John was written to help us deal with our doubts and lead to more confidence before God. Several times he uses the word confidence 2:28, 3:21, 4:17, 5:14. That’s the outcome John wants for these believers; to be so sure of eternal life they are looking forward to the future with no fear. So John writes this so they know they have it now, and to teach them how to develop it.

But what is eternal life?

How would you describe it? A ticket to heaven? That’s not exactly what John means by it.  John means a life that when present becomes tangible in real actions and behaviours. Look at how he starts this letter in 1:1-4. He says eternal life became manifested/real/concrete and he saw and heard and even touched it? He means of course in the person of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ had eternal life, embodied eternal life, and so He displayed it. Just like an apple tree displays apple tree life by growing and producing apples, and we display human life by moving, eating, speaking etc Jesus Christ displayed eternal life through his words and deeds, his actions and his attitudes.

Eternal life is life, not a date in our Bible. Our parents gave us natural life, so we could grow and eat and walk and talk, but natural life is very limited, it only lasts a few years and has no real connection with God or eternity. But when we believe in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God He gives us eternal life as well as our natural life, and eternal life is so much greater in its capacity, its potential and its duration. With eternal life we can get to know God Himself, see John 17:3.

John here writes to assure these believers that they have eternal life by telling them what effect eternal life has on people when they have it. It was perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ, but it will be evident to some extent in us also, if we have it.

So what is the evidence of someone having eternal life?

Bible Scholar Robert Law showed that there are three main evidences for eternal life that run through the whole letter: 1. Righteousness, or right behaviour 2. Love, in particular for fellow Christians and 3. Truth, in particular regarding the person of Jesus. John is showing that with real eternal life, these three will always be present.

1. The first evidence of righteousness, not just in the sense of doing good works, giving to charity, being kind and nice, but it is more in the sense of inward moral purity and obedience to God. This evidence appears in the following verses:

1:6 walk in the light

1:8 admit our sin

2:4 keep his commandments

3:3 purifies himself

3:6-10 does not keep on sinning

5:3 keeping his commandments

5:18 does not keep on sinning

2. The second evidence is love but not as our world defines love nowadays; letting everyone do whatever they want to do. This is love for God and especially for the people of God.

2:9 does not hate fellow Christians

3:14 we love our fellow Christians

4:7,12 love for one another

4:20-21 love for fellow Christians

5:1-2 loves the Father and his children

3. And the third evidence is truth, not telling the truth, but believing the truth, with a particular emphasis that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, God become man:

2:22 does not deny that Jesus is the Christ?

3:23 believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ

4:6 listens to the apostles teaching

4:15 confesses that Jesus is the Son of God

5:1 believes that Jesus is the Christ

5:5 believes Jesus is the Son of God

5:20 has an understanding of the truth

As you can see a lot of these same three tests appear over and over throughout the book and they are interweaved with each other. 5:1-2 combines all three tests together. John is showing you cannot have one without the other, they all come together as part and parcel of eternal life. The true children of God display all three: truth, love and righteousness.

But they must grow. Just as human life comes with a lot of potential but must be developed as the child grows it is the same with eternal life. So John is also teaching us how it grows so that we might obey and as this new life grows in us we will see evidence of God working in our lives and grow in confidence before God. This is the proper Biblical way to get assurance.

So how do we often seek assurance?

There are many ways we can seek to find assurance which are not in 1 John:

We often look to experiences, times when God worked in our life or we felt close to Him. Maybe when we were converted. The trouble is as time goes by it can be hard to remember those experiences, and certainly impossible to recreate the feelings. John’s emphasis is on eternal life showing itself now in the present through actions and attitudes not feelings.

Or outward conformance of behaviour and appearance. We can define Christianity by ways of dress or patterns of behaviour that can be done by anyone with or without eternal life.

Or from working for the Lord; trying to serve Him, and see people saved, so we feel like a proper Christian. But this turns us into slaves and God into a boss. We never feel accepted or confident before God

Or we determine to change our behaviours by our own human strength. We try our best to read and pray more. We determine to beat sin in our lives. But that often ends in defeat as we are trying to produce results with human life that only eternal life can produce. John is teaching that true eternal life is organic, not forced. It grows as God changes us and we can see the evidence of His working.

For reflection: Which of these do you default to for assurance?

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