General Epistles · New Testament
1 John
c. AD 85–95
- Section
- General Epistles · New Testament
- Events span
- c. AD 85–95
- Written
- c. AD 90, from Ephesus (near modern-day Selçuk, Turkey)
- Author
- John the Apostle
John writes to assure believers of eternal life and to expose false teaching. He gives tests of genuine faith: walking in the light, obeying God's commands, and above all loving one another, for “God is love.” By these we know we belong to the truth.
Historical setting: Written near Ephesus after the Second Temple's destruction (AD 70); the church, now largely Gentile, confronting early false teaching.
Key themes
- God is light
- God is love
- Assurance of eternal life
- Tests of true faith
- Love one another
The letter's message
- "God is light" — walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing from sin
- Obeying God's commands and loving others prove that we truly know him
- Believers are the children of God; test the spirits, for many false prophets have gone out
- "God is love" — we love because he first loved us
- These things are written so that you may know you have eternal life
Key lessons
- God is light, and fellowship with him means walking in that light; when we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive and cleanse us. 1 John 1:5–9
- Genuine faith shows itself in obedience and love; no one can truly claim to love God while hating a brother, for “God is love.” 1 John 4:7–8, 20
- God wants his children to have assurance, not anxiety; John writes so that believers “may know” they have eternal life. 1 John 5:13
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Critical scholarship view
Where mainstream critical scholarship dates or attributes this book differently from the traditional view above.
- Written
- c. AD 90–110
- Author
- The Johannine community / anonymous