1 John – The Tests of True Fellowship
1 John is a pastoral letter written by the apostle John to strengthen believers by clarifying the true nature of Christian faith and exposing the errors of emerging false teachings, especially early forms of Gnosticism that denied Jesus’ real incarnation. John emphasizes that genuine fellowship with God is marked by walking in the light, obeying God’s commands, rejecting sin, and loving one another with sincerity and action. He contrasts truth with deception, Christ with antichrists, and the love of God with the love of the world, urging believers to discern spirits and remain anchored in the message they received from the beginning. Above all, the letter assures Christians that through faith in Jesus—the Son of God—they can know they have eternal life and live confidently as God’s children.
Bible Lessons
1 John 1 – Walking in the Light
John opens by affirming the reality of Christ’s incarnation and calls believers to fellowship with God through confession and walking in His light.
1 John Introduction
1 John 1:1-2 From the Beginning
1 John 1:3-4 Source of Fellowship and Joy
1 John 1:5-7 God Is Light
1 John 1:8-10 We Are to Confess Our Sin
1 John 2 – Knowing God through Obedience and Love
John teaches that true knowledge of God is proven by obedience, love for others, and rejection of the world’s desires and false teachers.
1 John 2:1-2 Advocate and Propitiation
1 John 2:3-6 Evidence That You Know Him
1 John 2:7-8 Love that Includes Sacrifice
1 John 2:9-11 Love and Light are Inseparable
1 John 2:12-14 Little Children, Young People, and Fathers
1 John 2:15-17 What Do We Love?
1 John 2:18-19 The Antichrists Are Among Us
1 John 2:20-23 We Have the Holy Spirit
1 John 2:24-25 Requirements for Abiding
1 John 2:26-27 Protection from Deceivers
1 John 2:28-29 Abide to Have Confidence
1 John 3 – Children of God and the Practice of Righteousness
God’s love makes believers His children; therefore, they must turn from sin and demonstrate love in action, not merely in words.
1 John 3:1-3 Becoming More Like Jesus
1 John 3:4-8 Practice Righteousness Not Sinning
1 John 3:9-10 What Is God’s Seed
1 John 3:11-12 We Are to Love One Another
1 John 3:13-15 Does the World Hate You?
1 John 3:16 Extending the Afflictions of Jesus Christ
1 John 3:17-19 How We Are to Love
1 John 3:19-22 Are We of the Truth?
1 John 3:22-24 Believe and Obey
1 John 4 – Testing the Spirits and Perfect Love
John warns against false prophets, emphasizes that true confession acknowledges Christ’s incarnation, and declares that perfect love casts out fear.
1 John 4:1-3 Test the Spirits
1 John 4:4-6 We Are from God and Have Overcome
1 John 4:7-8 Love as Evidence
1 John 4:9-12 God’s Love Manifested Through the Sacrifice of Jesus
1 John 4:13-16 Does God Abide in You?
1 John 4:17-18 Perfected Love Provides Confidence
1 John 4:19-21 To Love God Requires That We Love Believers
1 John 5 – Faith, Assurance, and Eternal Life
Believers overcome the world through faith in Jesus, possess eternal life, and can have confidence in prayer and victory over sin.
1 John 5:1 Born of God
1 John 5:2-3 The Love Obedience Relationship
1 John 5:4-5 Who Overcomes the World?
1 John 5:6-8 Three Witnesses
1 John 5:9-12 The Testimony of God
1 John 5:13 Assurance of Eternal Life
1 John 5:14-15 The Importance of Confidence
1 John 5:15 How Are We to Pray?
1 John 5:16-17 Sin Leading to Death
1 John 5:18 We Are Protected by God
1 John 5:19-21 We Are in Christ
Anchor My Faith 