1 John: A Three Ring Circus

Have you ever been to a circus? I haven’t been to a circus since I was a little kid, and I barely remember those. In the past, back in the day (and maybe even today, too), circus tents were circular in shape, and within the circular circus tent was three rings. In these rings, the circus acts were performed, all at the same time. With all the crazy circus events happening at the same time, it’s turned the term “three ring circus” to mean “a situation characterized by confusing, engrossing or amusing activity.” I wouldn’t describe the Bible as the latter definition, or the informal definition. But 1 John does have something similar to the former definition. In 1 John, John seems to running three shows at the same time, yet they are all in the same Biblical “tent” and they all agree with the rest of the Bible, with no contradictions. And as of a matter of fact, there are three in 1 John. But these three are not 3 rings, but 3 theologies.

Before we look at the 3 theologies, let’s once again remind every of the introductory information that we started out with. It might just help us understand the theology John is throwing at us.

THE AUTHOR (WHO): John

THE AUDIENCE (WHOM): Christians in Ephesus (and possibly all Asia Minor)
THE LOCATION (WHERE): Ephesus (and possibly all Asia Minor)
THE DATE (WHEN): 90-91 AD
THE HISTORICAL OCCASION (WHAT): False teachers teaching false theology, such as rejecting Jesus as God/man/Christ, as well as de-valuing the Law and fellowship
THE PURPOSE (WHY): John wrote the book of 1 John to persuade Christians in Ephesus to continue believing that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, and to love God and other people by not sinning against them.
THE STRUCTURE (HOW): A three-theology epistle

As I have mentioned before, a lot of times the structure of the Bible book could be displayed in an outline. But as I have also mentioned, 1 John is notorious for being difficult to outline. It would seem that John is all over the place. But he’s not. Instead, John mentions all 3 theologies in each chapter to display how all these theologies are interwoven and how they all display the character of God. So instead of attempting to outline the epistle, let’s look at the 3 theologies John spends most of his time focusing on, and then see if we can draw any conclusions out of it. The 3 theologies can be titled and categorized as following: doctrinal theology, moral theology, and social theology.

Doctrinal Theology. In Ephesus during the 1^st century, mainly two different types of false teachers arrived. The one was an early form of Gnosticism, and the other was an early form of Docetism. The early form of Gnosticism preached that Jesus was only human and never God. Docetism preached that Jesus was only God and never human. Either way, John points out that both theologies deny that Jesus is the Christ, whether they do so intentionally or not. In 1 John 2:18-28, John uses the term “Father” and “Son” showing that Jesus has the same deity as Yahweh. In 1 John 4:1-6, John declares that Jesus came from God in the flesh. He also declares this an essential, orthodox belief in Christianity. Later on 1 John 4:14-16, John continues to say that it’s the deity of Jesus that makes him the Messiah and the Savior of the world. John concludes the doctrinal theology in 1 John 5:5-12 by stating that eternal life can only be obtained if Jesus is the Son of God. By clearly stating the facts that Jesus is God, human and the Christ, John also swiftly rejects anyone who preaches differently. Those who preach differently are liars (2:21), antichrists (2:22), of the world (4:5), and not of God (4:6). John declares these people not Christian, so true Christians should even listen to them. That is how important the deity and humanity of Christ is to Christianity. Without it, Jesus can’t be the Christ and can’t be the Savior of the world, which would leave humanity doomed.

Moral Theology. False teachers were also coming in proclaiming that since Jesus died on the cross, God no longer cared about sin. So a person could sin as much as they want, and God wouldn’t care. John devotes all of chapter 1 alone to get rid of this theology. In 1 John 1, John calls people who continue to sin liars who don’t know God or the truth. This applies to both the false teachers and all who follow the false teachers. In 1 John 2:12-17, John urges Christians to continue to overcome sin and not return to their old sinful lives. In 1 John 3:1-10, John urges Christians to purify themselves from sin. Those who do continue to sin are lawless (3:4), does not see or know God (3:6), is of the Devil (3:8) and is not born of God (3:10). Once again, this applies both to the false teachers and those who follow the false teachers. John concludes the moral theology of sinlessness in 1 John 5:2-4. In these verses John says the only way to love God is to obey His commandments and not sin. A true believer loves God, so if that believer loves God, he or she will avoid and overcome sin, and not fall into it. God does care about sin because He cares about the well-being of His people.

Social Theology. Somewhere between the false doctrines, a false social theology had slipped in. False teachers were also preaching that Christians only needed God, so they didn’t need to love other Christians or fellowship with other Christians. John simply states the facts. In 1 John 2:3-11, John says that a Christian cannot love God if a Christian cannot love his or her fellow Christian. In 1 John 3:11-24, John tells his Christian readers that they must follow the good example of love that Jesus provided, and they must not follow the bad example of love, as found in the story of Cain. In 1 John 4:7-13, John states that Christians must love other Christians because it is the sign they are Christian, for God is love. John even ends 1 John 4 by commanding Christians to love another, for anyone who doesn’t is a liar.

So what does this tell us about God? Well, a lot. The doctrinal theology tells us that God is concerned with truth. It also tells us that Jesus, God the Son, is just as much as God as the Father is. The moral theology reminds that God is holy and righteous, and He will not tolerate sin. The social theology teaches us that God is love, and so God expects His people to love one another just as God loves them.

So what does that mean for modern-day Christians in the 21^st century? Well, lucky for us, epistles are as straight-forward as application can get. John wants all Christians to follow all 3 theologies he presented in 1 John. Although it’s not threatened like it was in the earlier centuries, today’s Christian need to believe that Jesus is both God and man. It should be in every church’s faith statement and it should be discussed when evangelizing. Today’s Christians must also not take a liberal view of sin. If God does not tolerate sin, then neither should Christians. Yet at the same time, Christians today should not take a legalistic view of sin, for it does not accurate represent the compassion, mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though going to church does not save a person, no one should separate themselves from church. Christians must keep coming together in Christian fellowship and in Christian love. If we do, it can be a powerful testimony to the world around us.