First Corea first principles look at the Bible
Book 62 of 66 · Letter

1 John

A letter to a church that has just split. Its test for who really knows God is simple and hard: do you love the brother or sister you can see? “God is love” (4:8).

The big idea

In short: love the actual person. “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (4:20).

And love has to be real: “let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (3:18).

The rule underneath: Law 2 · Love the actual person

Love the person in front of you: neighbor, stranger, enemy.

Keep it: Trust grows and people are cared for.
Break it: Faith turns into talk, and real people get hurt.

Shows up in: Leviticus, Micah, Luke, Romans, 1 Corinthians

Other rules in this book: God first, Repair

Live it: Playbook 02 · How to love

7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.1 John 4:7-8 · KJV

At a glance

What it is
A letter, or written sermon, with no greeting or signature. 5 chapters.
Who wrote it
It does not name its author. Tradition says John the apostle, one of Jesus’ twelve closest followers. Its words and ideas are very close to the Gospel of John, so many scholars think it came from the same community, perhaps the same writer. debated
When
About AD 90–110.
The crisis
A group has left the church (2:19). They seem to have denied that Jesus came “in the flesh” (4:2), and to have claimed to know God while not loving others.
Read it in
About 15 minutes.

What it says

1–2 · Light. The writer speaks of what “we have seen with our eyes… and our hands have handled” (1:1). “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1:5). Nobody is sinless (1:8). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us” (1:9). Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother “is in darkness” (2:9). Don’t love “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (2:16).

3 · Love that acts. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us” (3:1). Hate is a kind of murder (3:15). Jesus laid down his life, so we should lay down ours for each other (3:16). If you have enough and shut your heart to someone in need, “how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (3:17).

4–5 · God is love. Test what you hear (4:1). “God is love” (4:8). “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (4:18). “We love him, because he first loved us” (4:19). The letter ends: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (5:21).

16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.1 John 3:16-18 · KJV
Go deeper
  • Original words. Agapē, “love,” and its verb appear more than 40 times in five short chapters. Koinōnia, “fellowship” (1:3), means sharing life, like partners in a business.
  • Structure. It circles instead of marching: light, love, and truth come back again and again, each time a little deeper.
  • Tests. The letter gives three tests of real faith: doing what is right, loving each other, and believing that Jesus came as a real human (2:3–6; 3:10; 4:2).
  • How the laws interlock. Law 2 is the whole letter. Law 1 is 5:21: keep away from idols. Law 12 is 1:9: confess, and be forgiven. Law 8 is 3:17: love shares what it has.

Hard parts

The added verse (5:7)

What it says The KJV reads: “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (5:7).

The rule underneath Tell the truth, including about the text.

What people added These words are missing from almost all Greek copies and from early church writers’ quotations. They appear in later Latin copies, and in only a few late medieval Greek ones. The scholar Erasmus added them to his Greek New Testament in 1522, and from there they reached the KJV. Most modern versions leave them out. Christians who believe in the Trinity do not depend on this verse for it.

“Antichrist” (2:18–22; 4:3)

What it says “Even now are there many antichrists” (2:18). An antichrist is anyone who “denieth the Father and the Son” (2:22) or denies Jesus came in the flesh (4:3).

The rule underneath Tell the truth. The test is teaching, not guessing names.

What people added These are the only Bible verses that use the word. Many later readers joined it to the “man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2) and the beast (Revelation 13) and looked for one future figure. Others note that here the word describes people who left the church. Readers differ.

Translation notes that change meaning

  • 3:17 “bowels of compassion.” People in 1611 spoke of the bowels as the seat of feeling, the way we say “heart.” Modern versions say “heart.”

Where it leads

One thing to do

This week

Love someone you can see

Name the person near you who is hardest to love: a relative, neighbor, coworker. Do one real, practical thing for them this week, not just a kind thought (3:18). Write in your journal what you did and what changed in you.

How to read it. Read it aloud in one sitting. Mark every time the word “love” appears.