1 John

1 John is the sixty-second book of the Bible. It is traditionally attributed to the apostle John, the same author as the fourth gospel, and is generally dated to the 80s or 90s AD, written probably from Ephesus where John spent his later years. Unlike most New Testament letters, 1 John has no opening greeting and no specific recipients named; it reads more like a circular pastoral letter.

The letter is responding to a split in the community. Some who had been part of the church had left, taking with them teachings that John considers a serious distortion of the faith. The exact nature of their teaching is debated, but it seems to have involved denying that Jesus had truly come in the flesh and a more general detachment of belief from practice.

John writes to assure those who remain that they have the truth and to give them ways to test what they hear. The letter circles repeatedly around three themes: God is light, God is love, and Jesus has come in the flesh. Belief, love, and obedience are bound together; you cannot have one without the others.

The letter contains some of the most quoted lines in the New Testament: "God is love," "Perfect love casts out fear," "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us." It ends with the assurance that those who have the Son have life.