Why John Wrote 1, 2, 3 John – Part Two

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

There are many books in the New Testament that are what termed “epistles.” An epistle is a writing or letter that is directed or sent to a person or group of individuals. It is usually in the form of an elegant and formal didactic letter. Didactic is a term that refers to the method by which the letter was written and means that the intent or purpose of the letter was for teaching and/or instruction.

 

Contained in the New Testament are the epistles of 1, 2 and 3 John written by the apostle John. It is interesting to study why John wrote these epistles because this has much to do with their content and how they apply to us today as Christians.

 

John gives us the reasons he wrote these books of the Bible but scatters them throughout 1, 2 and 3 John. There are fourteen reasons that are given and we will cover each one in this series.

 

The major theme of 1, 2, and 3 John is to assure Christians of their salvation. John wishes to repeatedly remind Christians of why he is writing to them so that they can understand and remember that God wants them to be assured of their salvation and not let false teachers undermine their faith in God.

 

REASON THREE

 

So that Christians will not sin in their life as Christians.

 

“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.”

1 John 2:1

 

John wanted to prevent Christians from sinning by reminding them of what they already knew, that they are called to live a holy life and not pursue the passions of the flesh. The Gnostic teachers and their converts were attempting to fool Christians into thinking that sinful living had no affect on their relationship with God. They were infecting the local churches with this false belief and it was causing Christians to sin. John wanted to inform and instruct Christians once more that how you live and what you do with your physical body has an impact on your relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul in Romans 6:11-12 speaks to this issue where it says,

 

“Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”

 

John wanted to prevent them from sinning if at all possible, but He also wanted to remind them that if anybody did sin, that because they had been saved through Jesus’ sacrifice, they now had an advocate in Heaven. Jesus is our intermediary. He is our defense. Because we accept Christ as our Savior and are forgiven for our sins we are no longer under God’s judgment. Our calling is to not sin, but when we do, we know we have someone who justifies us and that is the only Son of God, Jesus Christ. .

 

REASON FOUR

 

He wanted to give them an old command in the form of a new command.

 

“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. 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.”

1 John 2:7-8

 

While this passage of scripture appears to be confusing, it really does make great sense. John was writing about an old command they knew, but he wanted to shed new light on how it should be applied under the new covenant with God based on Christ and the Gospel.

 

The old command was to love your neighbor as yourself. The new application of this old command was to obey it not because of a legal obligation, but motivated by the grace, mercy and love God had shown through His Son Jesus Christ. There is a difference between loving out of a duty to obey a law and loving from a heart that has been forgiven by the perfect love of God. The old commandment was based on a legal requirement and the new version of the old commandment was to love out of an attitude based on the grace and mercy experienced in being forgiven of sin. When we accept the free gift of salvation provided by Jesus Christ, we experience unmerited favor and mercy and this empowers us to love others, not because we have to, but because we want to love as God loves. It also enables us to love even those we have known as our enemies or who have done harm to us in the past. Christ did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. The old commandments have taken on a new form and have as their foundation love, grace and mercy.

 

John repeats this reason for writing in 2 John 5-6 where he says, “And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”

 

John also discusses this in the Gospel of John in 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” These words were spoken by Jesus Himself and reflect His fulfillment of the old command to love others, but in a more powerful and intimate way.

 

The truth of this “old command” being redefined in a new command has its basis set in the truth seen in Jesus Christ. The Word of Life brought light to a dark world and He also brought how to love in a godly way. This light would reveal the true essence of the meaning of the old commandments of the law and give life to the faith of those who lived as Christians in the first century as well as to us today.

 

REASON FIVE

 

Because Christians have had their sins forgiven by Christ’s death and resurrection.

 

“I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.”

1 John 2:12

 

John also wrote these epistles because of the established fact that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection all who accept Him as Lord and Savior are saved from their sins. John wanted to continually remind Christians everywhere that they were saved from their sins. Because we still sin as Christians at times, we can sometimes begin to doubt whether we are saved. John wants to encourage Christians that Christ’s one-time death on the cross is payment for our sins if we commit our heart, mind and soul to Him.

 

Romans 4:7-8, says “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” This is the assurance we have as Christians that our sins are truly forgiven.

 

REASON SIX

 

Because the older more spiritually mature men have known Jesus.

 

“I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.”

1 John 2:13

 

John again reminds the more mature in the faith men that he is writing these letters to them because they know Jesus, the One who is from the beginning. This verse establishes evidence that Christ is divine and has always existed. He was from the beginning and has always existed. Several verses attest to the fact that Jesus, though in a human body, was divine deity.

 

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

John 8:58

 

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 5:20

 

John had an agenda for writing these epistles to Christians. It was to remind them that they didn’t have to sin. They could avoid sin by obeying God’s Word, but if they did sin, they had forgiveness for their sins because of Jesus Christ. He wanted to remind them of the old commandment to love and that it now had been fulfilled through Christ who would show us how to love in spirit and truth, as God does. He also wanted to remind the older mature men of the faith that they knew Jesus, the Living Word, who was from the beginning.

 

We need to understand these reasons for John writing these epistles to the first century Christians and take ownership of them and remind ourselves they apply to us today in our twenty-first century.