Epistle of John Is Unlike

¶ … Epistle of John is unlike many of the Epistles, which take the form of letters. John's first epistle instead takes the form of a sermon, a set of reminders to followers and the curious the nature of their needed devotion and the clarity of their place in the world of the Lord, if they chose to live by his laws, as well as repent those sins which they are unable to avoid through devoted actions. The Epistle describes the manner in which a believer should live his or her life with a fervent spirit of the writer, building upon his own love for the word and the love of the lord. The work is comprehensive in that it develops almost an outline of the needed actions of the follower. According to Blaney in the Wesley Notes on New Testament "no other book of the bible treats so many doctrines so completely and so well." (Blaney 343)

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments." John goes on to say, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (I John 2:2-4) John makes clear that to be a true Christian one must know and accept the Lord Jesus Christ, know his commandments and live by them. This allows those within his fold to call upon those around him to know and live the commandments of the lord, to avoid sin and welcome his brother to repent in knowing the lord. "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and God in him." (I John 4:15) the work asks followers to follow only one God, (I John 4:1) and to avoid all idols to protect himself from a separation of the lord when he is returned to the world of wickedness. (I John 5:21)

The word of John's first epistle is demonstrative of a sermon, a sermon given with a fever of understanding about the study and knowledge of the lord and living in the love and light of the lord. He offers through his epistle the demonstrations of redemption and salvation, as is given in the Good news of the revelations of the lord. According to Blaney, "St. John was a man of keen insight. He looked at every situation and every truth as from a great height where only the primary distinctions are seen and important cleavages are noticeable.... For instance he draws a line between the world and the Church, between the sons of Satan and the sons of God." (346) From his view, upon the pulpit he sees the variance of contradictions of action and word, and calls his parishioners to stay within the light of the world, through the doctrine of knowledge and redemption. "This Epistle is marked by contrasts -- light and darkness, life and death, saint and sinner, love and hate, Christ and antichrist." (346) the messages are of complete totality, in that they build upon the idea of being either a follower or a sinner and that from the knowledge of the lord and redemption through confession, any son of Satan can become a son of God and live within the fold and love of the lord eternally. John makes clear that his word is not a word of teaching, as the word of the lord is known by his followers, instead it is the word of a reminder of the grace of the lord and the destiny of those who follow him, to live within his love and guidance for eternity. "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." (I John 2:21)