Preface — How to Read 1 John

1 John is written so that the readers may have fellowship with the apostolic witnesses and with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, and so that their joy may be fulfilled. The central message is that God is light, and walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing by the blood of Jesus.

The letter is set in the final hour of the old covenant age. Many antichrists have already arisen. They went out from the community, revealing that they did not belong. The readers have an anointing from the Holy One and are to remain in what they heard from the beginning.

What this letter shows

• The eternal life was with the Father and has been revealed; the witnesses declare what they have heard, seen, and touched.
• These are the end times — the final hour — and many antichrists are already present.
• The darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
• The world is passing away with its lusts; the one who does the will of God remains forever.
• Love is of God; the one who does not love does not know God.

How to read it

Read 1 John as a letter written to those living in the overlapping period before the full end of the old order. The truth has already been heard from the beginning. The task is to remain in it, walk in the light, love the brothers, and refuse the spirits that deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.