3 Things You Should Know about 1, 2, 3 John
The Bible is full of hidden gems. Many of those hidden gems are found in the smaller books in the Bible. Most Christians who take the reading of God’s Word seriously will be reasonably acquainted with its “big books” (such as Genesis, the Psalms, Isaiah, John’s gospel, Romans, and Ephesians). My guess is that not so many are well acquainted with books like Joel, Haggai, Zephaniah, and John’s three letters.
In this brief meditation we will reflect on three things every Christian should know about John’s three letters.
1. Though these books are brief, they play an important role in the Christian’s spiritual growth and maturity.
After forty years of pastoral ministry, I have learned not to assume that Christians know their Bibles as well as previous generations did. Biblical literacy and expository biblical preaching are not as common as they once were. The general attention span of even faithful believers has been infected with the spirit of the age. The good desire to minister relevantly into the culture has often led to sermons that are more topical than expository. All of this has robbed believers of a knowledge of the Word of God that is as wide and as deep as Scripture’s totality.
Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Paul was especially impressing this truth on this young man of God that he might embrace God’s written Word in its totality and have it shape his life and ministry. What was true for Timothy is surely no less true for every Christian.
So, we should know 1, 2, 3 John so that we might be trained in righteousness and complete Christians, equipped for every good work.
2. John’s three letters were written against the dark backcloth of heresies that were threatening the purity, peace, and mission of the church.
These heresies were not new to John’s day. Satan resurrects them regularly to derail Christ’s church, absorb it with itself, and rob it of its gospel credibility. As he begins his first letter, John writes:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10)
Notice the triad, “If we say . . . ” (1 John 1:6, 8, 10). Why does John feel the need to write this? Because some people in the church were saying they had fellowship with God but were walking in darkness. Later in 1 John 2:19, John wrote, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” As a faithful pastor, John is warning his “dear children,” as he calls them, to be on their guard against false teaching: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5; see also 1 John 2:22; 4:1–3).
In 2 and 3 John we see more of the Apostle’s concern to shepherd his dear children away from error. In 2 John 7 we read: “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” In 3 John 9, John even warns his dear children about a particular man, “Diotrephes . . . who likes to put himself first.” John knows only too well that bad character is as deadly as bad doctrine in corrupting the life of God’s people.
3. John’s three letters model the love, compassion, and courage that should be found in every gospel minister and indeed in every Christian.
God-honoring and sheep-nourishing ministry is rooted in preaching that is not only accurate and orthodox, but also rich in compassion, courage, and tenderness. It is striking to notice how often John describes his readers as his “little children” (1 John 2:1, 12, 28; 3:18; 4:4; 5:21). His teaching to them flowed out of his love for them. How different many of our churches would be if the people knew, even felt, that their pastors carried them in their hearts and cherished their good above life itself.
John’s three letters are gospel gems. Read them, ponder them, and perhaps even make the effort to memorize them, so that you may continue to grow in the grace of our Lord.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.