Lesson II The Purpose of the Book

The overall purpose of the book of First John is really no different than the purpose of the whole scripture as given in

2 Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. We must realize that the Bible is NOT given to lost men to show them how to be saved. It is given to HIS chosen people to tell them how to serve HIM. In this service is the responsibility to reach the lost with the news of salvation. In order to be able to do this right we must know how to LIVE for Him.

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.
Declare - To tell forth that which has been experienced.

Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
appaggello - to report back from - our nearness to Christ ! (an apostle communicates to man from God)
That you may have fellowship with us.

Fellowship - The sharing of that which is common to both parties. Did you ever try to share in a conversation where all but you had shared the experiences under discussion ?

There are many of the saved who haven't learned to really fellowship with the church because they have not yet experienced the Truth and so Christ has never become real in their lives.

1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
That your joy (delight) may be full (a participle - fulfilling)

John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. When these truths are experienced, a child of God will never have to search outside of the Lord's Church to find fulfillment.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
The answer to Christian failure is the absorption of the Word. John is going to tell us how.
If you are not ready to have a change made in your life, then you will waste your time to study what John is going to tell us that Jesus taught.

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
That ye may know that ye have eternal life. There is no child of God so successful as the one
who is confident and assured of his relationship with the Father. Compare this verse with

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

We shall see in this book that REAL assurance comes from obedience to the Word and the ABIDING in Christ and not from head knowledge of what the Bible says. (The cure comes not form memorizing the formula of the medicine, but in taking it.)


Next: Light and Darkness and our relationship to them