1 John
First John is a circling, meditative letter, returning again and again to a few radiant certainties: God is light, God is love, and eternal life has appeared in the Son, whom we have heard, seen, and touched. Written against teachers who denied that Christ had truly come in the flesh, it offers the church simple, searching tests: do we confess Jesus, keep his commandments, love one another? Its assurances are among the most comforting in Scripture: if we confess, he is faithful to forgive; perfect love casts out fear; these things are written that you may know you have eternal life.
Traditionally John the apostle, the beloved disciple, writing in old age
AD 85–100
Churches around Ephesus unsettled by teachers denying Christ's incarnation
To assure believers of eternal life and guard them against deceivers by the tests of truth, obedience, and love.