1 John: Gospel Assurance in a Rebellious Age

Text: Overview of 1 John

Summary: Is 1 John to be understood as setting forth a series of “tests of life” (i.e., theological, moral, social) by which a believer can examine his/her life to have assurance of salvation? How are we to understand the criteria that John sets forth throughout his letter? How should we read 1 John?

Outline: 

I. Reassessing the "tests of life" view in 1 John.

A. Theological test—Confession

Jesus is the Christ come in human flesh (1 John 1:1-4; 2:22-23; 4:2-3; 5:5)

B. The moral test—Obedience

Obedience to Christ’s commands/righteous living (1 John 2:3-6; 3:4-10)

C. The social test—Love

Love for fellow believers (1 John 2:9-11; 3:10-20; 4:7-11).

II. How are we to understand the criteria that John sets forth in his letter?

The context makes it clear that John is providing criteria by which his little children can “test” the claims of the secessionists rather than themselves (1 John 4:1). It is by testing the claims of the secessionists that John’s little children can have assurance of their salvation (i.e., that they are on the right side .

Thus, in each context of 1 John we see that the three so-callled "tests of life," namely:

the theological test—Jesus is the Christ come in human flesh (1:1-4; (1 John 2:22-23; 4:2-3; 5:5);

the moral test—Obedience to Christ’s commands/righteous living (1 John 2:3-6; 3:4-10);

the social test—Love for fellow believers (1 John 2:9-11; 3:10-20; 4:7-11)

apply to the secessionists (i.e., the Jews who couldn’t be convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, so they departed the Apostolic churches [1 John 2:19] and rebelled against Christ and His church [1 John 3:4-10].

The criteria John sets forth throughout 1 John are what distinguish John’s little children from the secessionists. Furthermore, John says these criteria characterize his “little children." As their spiritual father in the faith, he exhorts his little children to remain and continue in the Apostolic, eyewitness proclamation they have heard from the beginning (cf. 2:7, 13-14, 24; 3:11).

Thus, John's purpose in writing his letter is not to test but to assure his little children of their salvation by decisively locating them on the side of Jesus the Messiah, in contrast to the secessionists (i.e., former Jewish church members) who had recently rejected the Apostolic, eyetwitness proclamation of the gospel (see 1: 1-14; 5:13).

As far as John was concerned, his little children had already passed the test by remaining in their confession (see 2:12-14), in contrast to those who departed from them and proven themselves to be inauthentic (cf. 2:18-23; see Payne, Matthew. “Post-Crisis Assurance and the ‘Tests of Life’ Reading of 1 John”. Reformed Theological Review 80, no. 2 (August 1, 2021): 133–154. 

©John Fonville. All Rights Reserved. 2023.