Chapter 1

1:7 - Jesus' blood washes away human sin.

* This passage is referring to Jesus' shed blood (his death) that grants us the chance to have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.  If a person believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead, then they will receive eternal life.  John 1:7 simply abbreviates this offer.  This offer is based on the animal sacrifices that temporarily took away sins, then the covenant was improved with Jesus Christ.  Lastly, this scripture correlates with Matthew 26:28 and Hebrews 9:22.

1:8, 10 - In these verses, John tells us that everyone is a sinner. but later, in the same epistle (3:6,9; 5:18), he says that Christians don't sin.

* In 1 John 1:8 and 10, John is telling the readers that everyone has sinned.

* 1 John 3:6 tells us that if a person "abides" in Christ, then they will not sin.  There is no sin in God.  Therefore, if a person "abides" in Him (or does His will), they will not sin.

* In 1 John 3:9, John is simply giving us the highest standard.  Sinning is not an impossibility.  John is saying that believers "cannot sin" in the same way our legal system tells us that citizens "cannot break the law."

* 1 John 5:18 also contains a statement about the ideal and doesn't imply that sinning is an impossibility.

Chapter 2

* These verses are addressed to fathers, young men, and children.  There is no implication that women were not important.  Many other verses were directed to women.  Furthermore, as ancient writing sometime went, both sexes were often referred to by the word "men".  Our word "mankind" is a good example.

2:13-14 - Is it OK to call someone father? You may call some folks father.

* When Jesus warned against calling another person father, He was referring to worshiping them.  He had nothing against the English word father or calling an earthly Dad father.  The context of Jesus exhortation was worshipful titles and not earthly relationships.

2:15 - "Love not the world." Stay away from those who believe differently than you.
But according to Jn.3:16 God loves the world. If he does, then shouldn't we?

* 1 John 2:15 needs to be taken into context by reading 1 John 2:16, too.  These verses read, "Love not the world, neither the things in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."  This is clearly a different statement altogether than the one in John 3:16.  

2:18 - John thinks he is living in "the last times." He "knows" this because he sees so many antichrists around.

* A more accurate rendering of this passage is this: "Little children, in the last days, as you have heard, the Anti-Christ will come.  Even now, there are many antichrists, whereby we know the last days."

2:22 - Whoever denies "that Jesus is the Christ" is a liar and an antichrist. If so, then there are about three billion antichrists now living.

* This Greek word for Anti-Christ means "opposed to the Messiah."  Anti-Christ doesn't mean the opposite of Christ.  There may be three billion people who reject Jesus Christ, but this is not a contradiction.

2:28 - John warns his followers to get ready because Jesus is coming soon.

* The scriptures (see Matthew 24:36, Revelation 3:3, etc.) clearly state that Jesus Christ is returning at an unknown hour.  Therefore, John readies the people for His return.  He doesn't tell them that Jesus is coming, soon.  This is what he says in 1 John 2:28: "And now, little children, abide in him; that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming."

Chapter 3

3:2 - John expects to live to see Jesus return.

* Even the English translations of this passage do not indicate that John expects to live to see Jesus' return.  1 John 3:2 reads, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

* Jesus and John tell us that Christ will return at an unknown hour.  The scriptures were given above.

3:6, 9 - Earlier in this letter (1:8, 10) John assured us that everyone sins. Yet in these verses he claims that Christians don't sin.

* In 1 John 1:8 and 10, John is telling the readers that everyone has sinned.

* 1 John 3:6 tells us that if a person "abides" in Christ, they will not sin.  There is no sin in God.  Therefore, if a person "abides" in Him (or does His will), they will not sin.

* In 1 John 3:9, John is simply giving us the highest standard.  Sinning is not an impossibility.  John is saying that believers "cannot sin" in the same way our legal system tells us that citizens "cannot break the law."

* 1 John 5:18 also contains a statement about the ideal and doesn't imply that sinning is an impossibility.

3:8 - John says that whoever sins is "of the devil." But if what he said in 1:8, 10 is true, then everyone is "of the devil."

* This Greek word for "commits," in the sentence "He that commits sin is from the devil," is better translated "continues sinning without delay or repentance."  Therefore, John is telling us that people who live in sin and do not repent are living in a manner where they are aligning with the Devil.

3:15 - Jesus said that whoever wanted to be his disciple must hate his brother (Lk.14:26), but John says that such a person is a "murderer" and will not go to heaven.

* The Greek word for "hate," in Luke 14:26, is better translated "love less."

* 1 John 3:15 is understood better when we read it with verse 14.  1 John 3:14 and 15 read, "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.  He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."  They key words here are "we know" and "you know."  John is stating a way that humans can tell if others are Christians or not.  God is the judge of people's hearts.  Only God knows certain things; like who has actually trusted Jesus Christ for salvation.

* John is contrasting the ideal with a state of depravity.  Here is an adequate paraphrase: "When you love your brothers, we know that you are saved.  When you hate your brothers, you are essentially committing murder and nobody will know if you are saved or not.  Murderers go to Hell (if they don't trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior)."

3:18 - Love "in deed and truth."
Great idea. Does this mean we don't have to kill disobedient children (Dt.21:18-21), nonbelievers (Dt.17:2-7), sabbath breakers (Ex.31:14-15), etc. anymore? Or is this the way that Christians express their love "in deed and truth"?

* The laws in Deuteronomy were written to the Israelites and they were given for specific reasons; in specific circumstances.  The words in 1 John 3:18 are given to the post-Christ believers (Christians).

3:22 - How's this for a big lie? "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him."

* Like the phrase above, this scripture is a paraphrase of a solid, biblical truth.  This scriptural truth is clarified in several passages.  Here are two of them.

* John 15:7 reads, "If you abide in Me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you."  We cannot ask and expect God to give us things that will hurt us and bring us further from Him.  When we are abiding in Him and His words are abiding in Him, we will ask for the right things (the things that we actually need) and we will receive them.

* James 4:3 reads, "You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."  God is very interested in giving us the things we need.  Can you imagine if God gave us everything we wanted?  Our lives would be so filled with junk, we wouldn't be able to live effectively or practically.

Chapter 4

4:1 - Are those who believe Jesus is the Christ of God? Yes.

* This verse simply tells believers to test the spirits to see if they are from God or not.

4:2 - John says that all spirits that say Jesus is the Christ are of God. If so, then the "unclean spirits" in Mark's gospel (1:23-24, 3:11, 5:7) must have been of God.

* This passage of scripture was written after Jesus Christ had come and gone.  John wasn't referring to the spirits that talked to Jesus Christ.  John is helping his readers identify spirits that are against Christ.  

* 1 John 4:2 states that all spirits that confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh are of God.  All spirits that deny that He came are against Him.

4:3 - John says that the antichrist was already present at the time 1 John was written. So Pat Robertson must be wrong when he says the antichrist is a Jewish man that is alive today.

* 1 John 4:3 reads, "the spirit of antichrist is already in the world."  This is true and is not referring to the person who will be considered the "Anti-Christ" of the last days recorded in Revelation.

* I'm unfamiliar with this claim by Pat Robertson.

4:7 - What must you do to be saved? All you need is love.

* This verse doesn't say that all you need is love.  However, it does say that those who have Christian love are indeed Christians.

4:7-8, 16 - "Love one another, for God is love." See 1 Sam.15:2-3 for an example of what this type of love can do.

* 1 Samuel 15:2 states why the Israelites were supposed to destroy the Amalekites: "they ambushed Israel when they came up from Egypt."

4:8 - Does God love everyone?

* God is love. This is correct.

* God loves all people.  However, we also see that He can hate sinners.  This doesn't mean that they are outside His grace.  It simply means that He hates sin and those that reject Him and choose to hurt themselves and others by sinning can conjure His wrath.

4:16 - Does God love everyone?

* God is love. This is correct.

* God loves all people.  However, we also see that He can hate sinners.  This doesn't mean that they are outside His grace.  It simply means that He hates sin and those that reject Him and choose to hurt themselves and others by sinning can conjure His wrath.

4:18 - Should we fear God?

* This passage is better understood, in context, with verse 17.  1 John 4:17 and 18 read, "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."  John is telling the readers to be bold and avoid fearing judgment (going to Hell).

4:9 - This verse claims that Jesus is God's only son, but Gen.6:2 and Job 1:6 mention several other "sons of God."

* Genesis 6:2 is referring to fallen angels.  The "sons of God" is simply a phrase and does not refer to God's literal offspring, but it refers to the angels that He created.

* Job 1:6 refers to fallen angels, too.  This is obvious because they came with the Devil to speak to God.  They had been wandering the Earth (verse 7).

4:12 - John claims that no one has ever seen God, both other places in the Bible says that many have seen him (Gen.32:30, Ex.24:10, 33:11, Dt.34:10, Job 43:5, Is.6:1).

* John correctly states that no earthly person, on the Earth, has ever seen God the Father ("theos" in this passage, because it is in the Greek language).  God has shown Himself to people in Heaven and to some people, on Earth, in the form of Jesus Christ.

* Genesis 32:30 is when Jacob names a place "Peniel" because he wrestled with God ("face to face").  God is a Spirit.  He actually wrestled the second person in the trinity of God - Jesus Christ.

* In Exodus 24:10, the Hebrew word for God is "Elohim."  This is a plural form of God, indicating that the person of God wasn't necessarily seen.  Furthermore, God's feet were mentioned.  God is a Spirit and has no feet.  Consequently, this passage must refer to the person of Jesus Christ.

* Exodus 33:9 clearly states that God talked to Moses from a cloud.  Therefore, the expression "face to face," in Exodus 33:11, doesn't mean he talked to God's literal face.

* Deuteronomy 34:10 is another passage like Exodus 33:11.  The clarifying passage is Exodus 33:9.  Incidentally, the English word in Deuteronomy 34:10 is "knew" (face to face) and not "saw."

* There is no Job 43:5.

* Isaiah 6:1 tells us that Isaiah was ushered into Heaven, where the "Lord" was seated on the throne.  Isaiah 6:5 reveals Isaiah's concern about seeing the king and the remedy for this situation.  Note that this interaction was a supernatural one and in Heaven.  Therefore, since Isaiah was cleansed and in Heaven, the Lord allowed him to approach Him - only with cleansed lips.

4:20 - Should we love or hate our brother?

* We should love our brothers.  However, we should love God more than anyone.

Chapter 5

5:1 - Are those who believe Jesus is the Christ of God? Yes.

* Those who believe Jesus is the Christ are born of God.

5:7 - Many Bible verses (Dt.6:4, 32:3; Is.43:10, 45:5, 46:9; Jn.17:3) state that there is only one God, but here John says there are three.

* John does not say there are three gods.  1 John 5:7 reads, "For there are three that bear witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one."

5:12 - You're not living unless you've got Jesus.

* This is true.  Those that have Jesus have both abundant life and eternal life.

5:16 - John says "there is a sin unto death." It's a shame he doesn't tell us what it is.

* This passage is simply saying that the readers should tell sinners about eternal life through Jesus Christ.  It is also stating that some people sin and die and if someone is dead, we are not to try and lead them to salvation.  This passage isn't talking about one, specific sin that leads people to death.  All sins lead people to death and destruction.  John is simply telling believers to share the good news with people before they die and not after they die.

5:18 - Many Bible verses (2 Chr.6:36, Pr.20:9, Ec.7:10, 1 Jn.1:8, 10) claim that everyone is a sinner, but John says that some people (Christians) never sin.

* John is stating the ideal, again.  "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him."  This verse doesn't say that a believer cannot or will not sin.  John is saying it is possible for Christians to avoid evil and abstain from sin.

5:19 - Christians are "of God;" everyone else is wicked.

* This is true.  People who have repented and trusted and believed in God are of Him.  People who have rejected God and people who do not choose to glorify Him with their actions are wicked.