1 John 1 (JND) - Bible Truth Library

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Articles on

1 John 1

1 John 1:1 KJV (With Strong’s)

That which was from thea beginning, which we have heard, which we have seenc with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands haved handled, of the Word of life;

John 1:1• ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

,etc.

2 Peter 1:16• ¹⁶For we have not made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly imagined fables, but having been eyewitnesses of *his* majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

Luke 24:39• ³⁹behold my hands and my feet, that it is *I* myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me having. (Luke 24:39)

More on:

Life,

The Word

Cross References

Ministry on This Verse

1-4: He describes the person of Christ, in whom we have eternal life, by a communion with God;

5-10: to which we must adjoin holiness of life, to testify the truth of that our communion and profession of faith, as also to assure us of the forgiveness of our sins by Christ's death.

That which.

1 John 2:13• ¹³I write to you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because ye have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)

;

Prov. 8:22‑31• ²²Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
²³I was set up from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth was.
²⁴When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water.
²⁵Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;
²⁶while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
²⁷When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he ordained the circle upon the face of the deep;
²⁸when he established the skies above, when the fountains of the deep became strong;
²⁹when he imposed on the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
³⁰then I was by him his nursling, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
³¹rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. (Prov. 8:22‑31)

;

Isa. 41:4• ⁴Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I am HE. (Isa. 41:4)

;

Mic. 5:2• ²(And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be Ruler in Israel: whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.) (Mic. 5:2)

;

John 1:1,2‑18• ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²*He* was in the beginning with God.
³All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being.
⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
⁵And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.
⁶There was a man sent from God, his name John.
⁷He came for witness, that he might witness concerning the light, that all might believe through him.
⁸*He* was not the light, but that he might witness concerning the light.
⁹The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man.
¹⁰He was in the world, and the world had its being through him, and the world knew him not.
¹¹He came to his own, and his own received him not;
¹²but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name;
¹³who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God.
¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth;
¹⁵(John bears witness of him, and he has cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me;)
¹⁶for of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace.
¹⁷For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, *he* hath declared him. (John 1:1,2‑18)

;

John 8:58• ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)

;

Rev. 1:8,11,17‑18• ⁸I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, he who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
¹¹saying, What thou seest write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
¹⁷And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; *I* am the first and the last,
¹⁸and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades. (Rev. 1:8,11,17‑18)

;

Rev. 2:8• ⁸And to the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: These things says the first and the last, who became dead, and lived: (Rev. 2:8)

which we have heard.

1 John 4:14• ¹⁴And *we* have seen, and testify, that the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)

;

Luke 1:2• ²as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us, (Luke 1:2)

;

John 1:14• ¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth; (John 1:14)

;

Acts 1:3• ³to whom also he presented himself living, after he had suffered, with many proofs; being seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things which concern the kingdom of God; (Acts 1:3)

;

Acts 4:20• ²⁰for as for us *we* cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:20)

;

2 Peter 1:16‑18• ¹⁶For we have not made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly imagined fables, but having been eyewitnesses of *his* majesty.
¹⁷For he received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being uttered to him by the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom *I* have found my delight;
¹⁸and this voice *we* heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16‑18)

and our.

Luke 24:39• ³⁹behold my hands and my feet, that it is *I* myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me having. (Luke 24:39)

;

John 20:27• ²⁷Then he says to Thomas, Bring thy finger here and see my hands; and bring thy hand and put it into my side; and be not unbelieving, but believing. (John 20:27)

the Word.

1 John 5:7• ⁷For they that bear witness are three: (1 John 5:7)

;

John 1:14• ¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth; (John 1:14)

;

John 5:26• ²⁶For even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself, (John 5:26)

;

Rev. 19:13• ¹³and he is clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. (Rev. 19:13)

• The First Epistle of John has a peculiar character. It is eternal life manifested in Jesus and imparted to us—the life which was with the Father and which is in the Son. It is in this life that believers enjoy the communion of the Father. (“1 JOHN” by J.N. Darby)

• When I, too, turn my eyes to Jesus, when I contemplate all His obedience, His purity, His grace, His tenderness, His patience, His devotedness, His holiness, His love, His entire freedom from all self-seeking, I can say, That is my life. (“1 JOHN” by J.N. Darby)

• Could there be anything more perfect, more excellent, any development more admirable in the eyes of God, than Christ Himself, than that Life which was with the Father, manifested in all its perfection in the Person of the Son? (“1 John 1” by J.N. Darby)

• He was walking about this world, another kind of life altogether. That is what He calls “from the beginning.” (“Notes on 1 John 1” by J.N. Darby)

• Christ is looked at in this world as the beginning of everything. It is not that the saints before had not received life from Him above, but the thing itself had never been manifested. (“Notes on 1 John 1” by J.N. Darby)

• A Brief Outline of the Epistle Chapter 1:1-4—The Introduction. Chapters 1:5–5:5—A threefold examination of the essential features of God’s nature in His children: • Light – chapters 1:5–2:11. PARENTHESIS – chapter 2:12-28. • Life – chapters 2:29–4:6. • Love – chapters 4:7–5:5. Chapter 5:6-21—The Epilogue. (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

• John focuses on the family of God, dwelling on our relationship to God as His “children” (John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1 – J. N. Darby Trans.). Hence, the characteristics of life eternal in the family are expanded upon extensively. (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

• F. B. Hole defined the word “abstract” as follows: “When we speak abstractly, we purposely eliminate in our minds and utterances all qualifying considerations, in order that we may more clearly set forth the essential nature of the thing of which we speak” (Epistles, vol. 3, p. 161). Hence, we might say, “Cork floats.” In stating that, we are speaking of what cork does characteristically. We are not taking into consideration that it could be submerged under water if we tied something to it to hold it there. Under normal conditions, cork floats. Similarly, John speaks of things in their essence—that is, as to what they are characterized by without referring to any specific person, thing, or situation. He examines the features of life eternal by what normally characterizes it, not by what someone with that life does, that is uncharacteristic of that life. (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

• In that day, many anti-Christian teachers had risen up who professed to be children of God, but they denied the truth of the Father and the Son (chap. 2:18-26; 4:1-6). To help the saints to know those who were real believers and those who were not, John was led to present the characteristic features of life eternal by which all false pretention to the possession of that life could be detected. (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

• Some of them (the Cerinthians) denied the deity of Christ. The Apostle John met this error with his Gospel, showing that the Lord has all the attributes of deity. Others (the Doketics) denied the incarnation of Christ, and thus, taught that He was not a real Man. John meets this error in his epistles. Under the pretense of moving forward in the truth, these false teachers had moved away from the truth! Hence, John’s ministry has great practical value in defending against those who profess to know God but deny certain aspects of the truth of the Person of Christ. (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

• We might have thought that he would have said, “He who is from the beginning,” but John is not referring to the Lord Jesus personally, but rather to the manifestation of life eternal which was presented in Him, and thus, “that which” is fitting. (“Life Eternal Manifested in the World” by B. Anstey)

• The “beginning” that John speaks of here refers to when life eternal was first manifested in this world. This takes us back to the incarnation of Christ when the full character of that life came into view in Him (John 1:14). “From the beginning” is an expression that occurs eight times in John’s epistles (1 John 1:1; 2:13, 14, 24 {twice}; 3:11; 2 John 5, 6). As mentioned, the phrase refers to the beginning of the moral display of Christianity in the Person of Christ. (“Life Eternal Manifested in the World” by B. Anstey)

• By stating that the apostles (“we”) had “heard,” “seen,” “contemplated,” and “handled” Him, John shows that life eternal is not some mystical concept (as the Gnostics were propounding), but that which has been livingly expressed in a real Man. (“Life Eternal Manifested in the World” by B. Anstey)

• John identifies Christ as “the Word of life,” and this synchronizes with John 1:1 which states that He is a divine and eternal Person in the Godhead, having all the attributes of deity. He is called the Word of life because He fully expressed the life and nature of God. (“Life Eternal Manifested in the World” by B. Anstey)

J. N. Darby Translation

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; that which we contemplated, and our hands handled, concerning the word of life;

W. Kelly Translation

What wasa from [the] beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked on, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of lifeb

WK Translation Notes

The RV stands better, as it makes each verb more distinct, "that which." And it correctly distinguishes the tenses; the first two perfect tenses, while the two later are simply preterites.

The usual version "the word of life" seems preferable to, "the word, the life."