Page 26 - April 2026 - Truth & Tidings

Author
John the apostle, as an aged disciple. Possibly written near the close of his life. Prob-
ably writing somewhere in the time frame of AD 97.
Audience
While Paul writes to the believers as in the body, and Peter writes to sheep in the flock,
John writes to members in the family. This is a family epistle. The lack of OT references
may indicate a mostly Gentile audience.
Aim
He is not writing to confound the false teachers but to protect the family. There are
seven reasons given throughout the epistle for its writing. He is writing to the true fam-
ily to help them detect the errors of the false teachers.

Adversaries
John uses three terms to describe those who oppose divine truth: False prophets (4:1),
Deceivers (2Jn 7), Antichrist (2:18; 4:22).
Argument
The error which he writes against is two-fold: 1) Theological – Denied that Jesus was
the Christ (2:22); gnosticism denied the incarnation. 2) Ethical – Denied sin’s existence
and that it was a barrier to God.
We usually think of John as giving tests by which we examine if we are saved. But it
might be more accurate to say that he is giving tests to show the reality of Christianity
in contrast to the false teaching of the day. Here are tests by which we can see the reality
of Christianity and the error of the gnostic teaching, not my own salvation. I can only
go to the Word of God to know that. These tests are to detect the false teachers.
Approach

John’s approach is not the same as Paul’s. In Paul’s letters, his reasoning is linear. That
means that point follows point in a carefully reasoned argument, each point paving the
way for the next. John’s reasoning is circular, with argument leading back and on to

122 TRUTH kTidings April 2026