Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 5. The explanation of Jesus' preeminence 3:31-36
  This pericope explains why Jesus must become greater. It also unites several themes that appear through chapter 3. John the Apostle or John the Baptist may be the speaker. This is not entirely clear.3:31-32 The incarnate Son ...
• 4. The Father's witness to the Son 5:30-47
  Jesus now returned to develop a theme that He had introduced previously, namely the Father's testimony to the Son (vv. 19-20). Jesus proceeded to cite five witnesses to His identity, all of which came from the Father, since t...
• C. The Danger of Negligence (The First Warning) 2:1-4
  Having just encouraged his readers with a reminder of God's help for the faithful (1:14) the writer next urged his readers to be faithful. He did so to warn them of the possibility of retrogressing spiritually and consequentl...
• Outline
  I. Introduction: the purpose of the epistle 1:1-4II. Living in the light 1:5-2:29A. God as light 1:5-7B. Conditions for living in the light 1:8-2:291. Renouncing sin 1:8-2:22. Obeying God 2:3-113. Rejecting worldliness 2:12-1...
• II. Living in the light 1:5--2:29
  "The teaching of 1 John is concerned essentially with the conditions for true Christian discipleship. The two main divisions of the letter set out these conditions and exhort the readers to live in the light (1:5-2:29) as chi...
• III. Living as children of God 3:1--5:13
  "In the second division of this document (3:1-5:13) John concentrates on the developing spiritual life of his followers, rather than sustaining his attack on the heretics, some of whom have already seceded from his church (2:...
• The command to love 4:21-5:4
  4:21 Furthermore, God commanded us to love both Himself and our brothers, not just Himself (2:3; 3:23-24; 5:3). Here is another false claim (cf. 1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, 6, 9, 22; 5:10)."Much verbal expression of devotion for the per...
• 5. Keeping the faith reaffirmed 5:5-13
  Here John set out his fifth and final condition for living as children of God (cf. 2:18-29)."We canbelieve, and therefore we shouldmaintain the faith."162In the previous section (4:7-5:4) John wove together the themes of fait...
• A. Confidence in action: prayer 5:14-17
  5:14-15 Prayer is another expression of the believer's trust in Jesus Christ and confidence toward God (cf. 3:21)."Prayer is not a battle, but a response; its power consists in lifting our wills to God, not in trying to bring...
• B. Certainty of knowledge: assurance 5:18-20
  John concluded this epistle by synthesizing the major thoughts he had presented to reinforce and review them for his readers. "We know"many things as a result of what Jesus taught and what John taught.5:18 "We know"introduces...