Introduction to 1st John
BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
The book of 1 John was written by the apostle John, a man who spent three years with Jesus, witnessed His crucifixion, and then encountered Jesus after He had risen from the dead. This same John also wrote 2 John, 3 John, the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelation. John likely wrote 1 John to the churches of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) while he was in Ephesus sometime between 80–95 A.D. Interestingly enough, the church at Ephesus was the first of seven churches addressed by Jesus in the book of Revelation.
1 John does not give us many specifics about the context John was addressing, though John does mention some who had left the church, presumably due to false teaching (2:18–19). Like a good pastor, John wanted to make sure that those who remained in the church weren’t carried away by similar errors. They, like us, needed to know the truth and to live in light of it.