1 John
Chapter 1
What Was Heard, Seen, and Touched
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life,
“The word of life”
Is Jesus, our Saviour and Lord.
“John 1:1”
In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God,
and the word was God.
“John 1:4”
In Him was life, and
the life was the light of men.
“John 1:14”
And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth.
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us,
“Amplified Version, verse 2”
And the life
(an aspect of His being)
was revealed (made manifest,
demonstrated), and we saw
(as eyewitnesses) and are
testifying to and declare
to you the life, the eternal
life (in Him) who already
existed with the Father and
who (actually) was made visible;
was revealed; to us (His followers).
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
Fellowship with Him and One Another
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
“Darkness” - sin.
“John 3:19”
“And this is the condemnation,
that life has come into the world,
and men loved darkness
rather than light,
because their
deeds were evil."
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.
“Walk in the light”
“John 8:12”
Then Jesus spoke
to them again, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
He who follows Me shall not
walk in darkness, but have
the light of life.”
“The blood of Jesus Christ”
“Matthew 26:28”
“For this is My blood
of the new covenant,
which is shed for many
for the remission of sins.”
“Remission” - forgiveness.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“Confess our sins”
“Luke 18:13”
“And the tax collector,
standing afar off,
would not so much as
raise his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner!”
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Chapter 2
The Test of Knowing Christ
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
“Amplified Version, verse 1”
My little children, I write you
these things so that you may
not violate God’s law and sin;
but if anyone should sin we have
an advocate (one who will intercede
for us) with the Father; (it is) Jesus
Christ (the all) righteous; upright,
just, who conforms to the
Father’s will in every
purpose, thought
and action.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
“Propitiation”- The sacrifice.
The Test of Knowing Him
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
“John 14:21”
“He who has My commandments
and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me. And he who loves
Me will be loved by My
Father, and I will love
him and manifest
Myself to him.”
4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
“Amplified Version, verse 5”
But he who keeps
(treasures) His word;
who bears in mind His
precepts, who observes
His message in its entirety,
truly in him has the love of
and for God been perfected
(completed, reached maturity.)
by this we may perceive and
know and recognize and be
sure that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
‘Luke 14:27”
“And whoever does not bear
his cross and come after Me
cannot be My disciple.”
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
“Amplified Version, verse 7”
Beloved I am writing you
no new commandment,
but an old commandment
which you have had from the
beginning; the old commandment
is the message which you have
heard; the doctrine
(of salvation through Christ).
8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
“Amplified Version, verse 8”
Yet I am writing you
a new commandment,
which is true; is realized;
in Him and in you, because
the darkness (moral blindness)
is clearing away and the true light
(the revelation of God in Christ)
is already shining.
9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
“Darkness” - sin.
“John 8:21”
Then Jesus spoke to
them again, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
he who follows Me shall
not walk in darkness, but
have the light of life.”
Their Spiritual State
12 I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
“Romans 12:2”
And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God.
"Renewing of your mind"
Study God's Word
Deceptions of the Last Hour
18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Let Truth Abide in You
24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
“John 14:23”
Jesus answered
and said to him,
“If anyone loves Me,
he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him and
make Our home with him.”
25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
“John 3:16”
“For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but
have everlasting life.”
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.
27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
The Children of God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
“Righteousness”
With love, joy and peace,
live obedient to God’s word.
Chapter 3
The Command to Love
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
“Children of God”
“Luke 18:17”
“Assuredly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God as a little
child will by no means enter it.”
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Sin and the Child of God
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
“Amplified Version, verse 6
No one who abides in him,
who lives and remains in
communion with and in
obedience to Him,
(deliberately and knowingly)
habitually commits (practices)
sin. No one who habitually sins
has either seen or known Him;
recognized, perceived or
understood Him, or has
had an experimental
acquaintance
with Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
“Amplified Version, verse 9”
No one born (begotten) of God
(deliberately and knowingly)
habitually practices sin,
for God’s nature abides in
him, His principle of life,
the divine sperm,
remains permanently
within him, and he cannot
practice sinning because he
is born (begotten) of God.
“The divine sperm”
The Holy Spirit.
The Imperative of Love
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
The Outworking of Love
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
“Amplified Version, verse 24”
All who keep His commandments
(who obey His orders and follow
His plan, live and continue to
live, to stay and) abide in
Him, and He in them.
they let Christ be
a home to them
and they are the
home of Christ
and by this we know
and understand and have
the proof that He (really) lives
and makes His home in us by the
Holy Spirit whom He has given us.
Chapter 4
Love for God and One Another
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
“Amplified Version, verse 5”
They proceed from the world
and are of the world, therefore
it is out of the world (its whole
economy morally considered)
that they speak, and the world
listens (pays attention) to them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
“Amplified Version, verse 6”
We are (children) of God,
whoever is learning to know
God; progressively to perceive,
recognize and understand God
(by observation and experience)
and to get an ever clearer knowledge
of Him; listen to us; and he who is
not of God does not listen or pay
attention to us. By this we know
(recognize) the Spirit of truth
and the spirit of error.
Knowing God Through Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
“Propitiation”
The atoning
sacrifice.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Seeing God Through Love
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Obedience by Faith
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
“John 15:12”
“This is My commandment,
that you love one another
as I have loved you."
Chapter 5
Obedience by Faith
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
“Amplified Version, verse 1”
Everyone who believes;
adheres to, trusts in and relies
(on the fact); that Jesus is the Christ,
the Messiah, is a born-again child of God;
and every one who loves the Father
also loves the one born of Him,
His offspring.
“His offspring”
Is Jesus.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
“Amplified Version, verse 2”
By this we come to know
(recognize and understand)
that we love the children of God
and obey His commands; orders,
charges; when we keep His
ordinances and are mindful
of His precepts and
His teaching.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world,our faith.
“Amplified Version, verse 4”
For whatever is born of God
is victorious over the world,
and this is the victory that
conquers the world.
even our faith.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
“Amplified Version, verse 5”
Who is it that is victorious
over (that conquers) the world
but he who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God;
who adheres to, trusts in
and relies (on that fact).
The Certainty of God’s Witness
6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
“Amplified Version, verse 6”
this is He who came
by (with) water and blood
(His baptism and His death)
Jesus Christ, the Messiah:
not by (in) the water only
but by (in) the water and
the blood.
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
“The word” - is Jesus.
8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
“John 19:34”
But one of the soldiers
pierced His side with a spear,
and immediately blood and
water came out.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Confidence and Compassion in Prayer
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
“1 John 3:22”
And whatever we ask
we receive from Him,
because we keep His
commandments and do
those things that are
pleasing in His sight.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
“Brother sinning”
“James 5:19-20”
Brethren, if anyone among you
wanders from the truth, and
someone turns him back,
let him know that he
who turns a sinner from
the error of his way will save
a soul from death and cover a
multitude of sins.
“Sin leading to death”
“Mark 3:29”
“But he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit
never has forgiveness, but is
subject to eternal condemnation
17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
“Amplified Version, verse 17’”
All wrongdoing is sin,
and there is a sin which
does not (involve) death;
that may be repented of
and forgiven.
Knowing the True—Rejecting the False
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
“Amplified Version, verse 18”
We know (absolutely)that any one
born of God does not (deliberately
and knowingly) practice committing sin,
but the One Who was begotten of God
carefully watches over and protects him;
Christ’s divine presence within him
preserves him against evil; and
the wicked one does not lay
hold (get a grip) on him or
touch (him).
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
“Amplified Version, verse 19”
We know (positively)
that we are of God,
and the whole world
(around us) is under the
power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Believers can pray this verse.
“Given us an understanding”
“Luke 24:45”
And He opened their
understanding,
that they might
understand
the scriptures.
Thank you Jesus.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
“Amplified version, verse 21”
Little children, keep yourselves from idols,
false god’s, (from anything and everything
that would occupy the place in your heart
due to God, from any sort of substitute
for Him that would take first place
in your life). Amen. so be it.