1 John in the bible was written by John who was one of Jesus' original twelve disciples. John also wrote the gospel of John, this letter and the two other letters called 1, 2, 3 John and also Revelation. This letter was written to believers but there was no specific mention as to a certain person, place or time. It is thought that this letter was written with the intention to pass it around to many areas of believers to encourage and direct them in their faith. The primary issue in this letter was that the problem of false teaching regarding salvation through Christ and how it worked in a believer's life. Certain people at that time had left the church but not before the results of their false teaching had distorted the message of Christ and confused the believers as to how they might "know" that they had eternal life.....
These things that they had a problem with were:....
1. The doctrine - beliefs and teaching.....
2. That Jesus is the Christ, Messiah, Savior and Son of God.....
3. That He came in human form. ....
4. They had a problem with ethics which is the moral standard of behavior.....
5. They had a problem with obeying God's commands.....
6. And they didn't think that a person needed to overcome worldly desires or avoid evil to have spiritual salvation. ....
Their false teaching was an early form of Gnosticism which is defined as beliefs and teachings that contradict the proven and established truths of God's Word.....
Their teaching was that the spiritual realm is entirely good, while matter or the physical world is entirely evil and basically that our bodies are kind of a trap that we need to escape. This teaching led to the idea that salvation could be achieved by escaping the body which came not through faith in Christ but by achieving more knowledge of things to do this. Because of this teaching people began to do one of two things – either they were treating their bodies badly; and even punishing themselves since the body (matter) was considered evil OR people were becoming more and more promiscuous and indulging their bodies in whatever they desired because they didn't think it really mattered what they did with it as long as they had the right knowledge or beliefs to back them up.....
So, Johns wrote this letter to those followers to: show them the truth and disagree with the errors of these false teachers and also to challenge those people who claimed to be God's spiritual children to pursue a life of purity and companionship with God because that if the kind of life that is filled with joy and assurance. It comes from an obedient faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit takes over in a person's life. ....
So, let's talk about this assurance…One thing I've noticed when I've shared the message of Jesus with people is there is usually one of two responses; one that people believe that a person can just be good enough to make it to heaven or two, that people just don't seem to know for sure if they are going to make it… it's just a big question mark to them if they will get there. Both of these ideas are wrong! ....
Every true Christian desires to have the assurance of salvation; the certainty that when Christ returns or when death comes that they will be with Jesus in Heaven. John's plan was to let those people know that they can have that assurance without any doubts that they are in right relationship with God and are headed for Heaven. What's your answer? Take the test, look up the scripture references and find out. ....
Are You Going to Heaven?....
1 John describes for us 5 specific tests by which believers may know with assurance that they have eternal life. ....
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Do you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God; Our Messiah and Savior?....
Read: 1 John 1:1-3, 2:21-23 4:2-3, 15 5:1, 5, 10, 20....
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Are you faithfully living a life of obedience to God's commands?....
Read: 1 John 2:3-11, 5:3, 4....
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Are you turning away from sin towards a life of companionship with God?....
Read: 1 John 1:6-9, 2:3-6, 15-17, 29, 3: 10, 5:2-3....
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Do you truly love God and other believers?....
Read: 1 John 2:9-11, 3:10-11, 14, 16-18, 4:7-12, 18-21 ....
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Do you have the witness of the Holy Spirit in your life?....
Read: 1 John 2:20, 27, 4:13, 5:7-12....
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John concludes in his letter that people can know with confidence that they have eternal life. ....
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1 John 5:13....
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ....
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