1 John chapter 1

John the Evangelist is an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. Sharing the Good News gives joy. God is light. Confess your sins and you are forgiven.

 


 

JOHN THE EVANGELIST IS AN EYEWITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST

 

VERSE 1. That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life

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heard … seen … touched. John is writing as an eyewitness. He invokes three of the human senses: heard … seen … touched.

Peter and many of the biblical authors were eyewitnesses. They saw with their own eyes, and they testified. Read more »

the Word of life. The Word of God leapt down from the realm of eternity. He became human and pitched his tent among us. He lived among us here on the earth. Read more »

 

VERSE 2. (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us);

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seen. John beheld the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ with his own eyes.

testify, and declare. If we have experienced the reality of Jesus Christ in our own lives, it cannot stop there. We must share that Good News with other people.

We cannot help but speak about what we have seen and heard. We exercise the Ministry of Evangelism.

Acts 4:20. for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.

 

SHARING THE GOOD NEWS GIVES JOY

 

VERSE 3. that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

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have fellowship with us. To have close fellowship with believers in Jesus Christ, you too must be a believer in Jesus Christ.

 

VERSE 4. And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.

NLT translation: We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

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that our joy may be fulfilled. John writes this so other people may share in the joy of knowing Jesus Christ!

 

GOD IS LIGHT

 

VERSE 5. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

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from him. Presumably this refers to Jesus Christ.

God is light. This phrase is not found in the four gospels. However, they do not capture everything taught by the Lord Jesus:

John 21:25. There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.

 

VERSE 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth.

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walk in the darkness. Many Christians act in ways they know are contrary to the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

 

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 Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

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VERSE 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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CONFESS YOUR SINS AND YOU ARE FORGIVEN

 

VERSE 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the First Letter of John and from the entire Bible.

NIV translation: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we confess our sins. We need to admit our sins:

  • Some people do that privately between themselves and God.
  • Other people confess their sins in the presence of a minister.

Then, after we confess of our sins, Jesus Christ does marvelous things.

To sin is to violate God’s will for us. It harms our relationship with God. We all have missed the mark and sinned. Here are the verses we’ve found »

to forgive us the sins. They are gone. They are as far from us as the east is from the west.

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are purified from the effects of all unrighteousness. Not just some, but all.

 

VERSE 10. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the First Letter of John and from the entire Bible.

 


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1 JOHN

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05

RESOURCES: SummaryOutline, Memorize

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.