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1 John memory verses:

• 1 John 1:7 (NIV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
• 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
• 1 John 2:3 (NIV) We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
• 1 John 2:9 (NIV) Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
• 1 John 2:17 (NIV)The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

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1 John 1:1-10 (NIV)

The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we
proclaim concerning the Word of life.
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

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Commentary and/or discussion:

John R.W. Stott, Key Word Commentary

1 John chapter 1

1. Following chapter

• Chapter 2: Obeying and loving God, and dealing with heretics

2. Analysis chapter

• Christ is the Word of life. (vv. 1-4)
• To have fellowship with God holiness is essential. (vv. 5-10)

3. Key verse

• Verse 7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

4. Key word

• “Fellowship” in verses 3, 6, 7.

5. Key event / key person / key theme

• John insists on the flesh and blood reality of the Incarnation.

6. Key thought

• Verse 8, some false teachers claimed they were above the ordinary laws of morality. John’s answer is a categorical denial.

7. Key thing to look out for

• The ways in which John emphasizes that Jesus was a real human being.

8. Key biblical cross-reference

• Verse 1. See John 1:2.

9. Key “by way of explanation”

• See 2:19, “they went out from us.” John is writing to answer the claims of false teaching which was probably an early form of Gnosticism. Gnostics believed they had secret knowledge which gave them enlightenment. They thought that matter was evil, and therefore denied that the Word was made flesh. Cerinthus, a heretical teacher in the time of John, taught that Christ only seemed to have a real body.

10. Key “Quotable Quote”

• “Thus we learn that we only make due progress in the knowledge of the Word of the Lord when we become really humbled and groan under the burden of our sins and learn to flee to God’s mercy and find rest in nothing except his fatherly favor.”

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1 John 2:1-29 (NIV)

1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

12 I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

13 I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.

14 I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Warning Against Antichrists

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 And this is what he promised us–even eternal life.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Children of God

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

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John R.W. Stott, Key Word Commentary

1 John chapter 2

1. Before and after

• Previous chapter: Chapter 1: Eyewitness and fellowship
• Following chapter: Chapter 3: Being God’s children and showing Christian love

2. Analysis of chapter

• Christ’s atonement helps in the battle against sin. (vv. 1,2)
• Salvation results in obedience, and love for the brethren. (vv. 3-11)
• Christians are spoken of as little children, young men, and fathers. (vv. 12-14)
• All are warned against the love of this world, and against false teaching. (vv. 15-23)
• They are encouraged to stand firm in faith and holiness. (vv. 24-29)

3. Key verse

• Verse 9: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.”

4. Key word / key phrase

• Verse 3, “obey his commands.”

5. Key event / key person / key theme

• Obeying and loving God, and dealing with heretics

6. Key thought

• Here is an acid test for you: Do you hate any fellow-Christian?

7. Key thing to look out for

• Here is another awkward question: Do you love aspects of the world’s ways and values?

8. Key Bible cross-reference

• Verse 7. See John 13:34.

9. Key “by way of explanation”

• Verse 15, “the world” refers to any society where people live in opposition, or indifference, to God. It is characterized by sensuality, greed, and pride. It is ruled over by the devil.

10. Key “Quotable Quote”

• “The corridors of the New Testament reverberate with dogmatic affirmations beginning ‘We know,’ ‘We are sure,’ ‘We are confident.’ If you question this, read the First Epistle of John in which verbs meaning ‘to know’ occur about forty times. They strike a note of joyful assurance which is sadly missing from many parts of the Church today and which needs to be recaptured.”

I’ve always wondered about this. Here’s an explanation of the 613 Laws that the Jews have written:

From the book entitled “Simple Church” by Tom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN.

“The religious leaders had developed a religious system with 613 Laws. They chose the number 613 because that was how many separate letters were in the text containing the Ten Commandments. Then they found 613 commandments in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). They divided the list into affirmative commands (do this) and negative command (don’t do this).

There were 248 affirmative commands, one for every part of the human body, as they understood it. There were 365 negative commands, one for each day of the year. They further divided the list into binding commands and nonbinding commands. Then they spent their days debating whether the divisions were accurate and ranking the commands within each division.”

Adam….4.26.2008