1 John 1-2

Light, Love, Truth

John's first epistle is an extension of his gospel and continues to present Jesus Christ as God. Many date the epistle after John wrote the book of Revelations and had the tremendous experiences and visions on the isle of Patmos when he wrote the book of Revelations.  Thus, it is no surprise that John declares, "God is Light!" in 1:5.  He had seen the light of God and knew that that light revealed all things and contained not even a hint of darkness.  In that Light, nothing can be hidden.

John then continues his epistle with the "new commandment" that "You love another" (1:7) proclaiming that it is really the old commandment brought to life and fully demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Now that we have His spirit in us, we also will demonstrate the love of Christ to one another.

In chapter 2, John writes that we must also live in truth - which is the expected result of the first two subjects: light and love.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth (2:20) and ignore the lure of falsehood and heresy. The determination of spiritual truth is easy, a liar is "anyone who says the Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son" (2:21-22).  So as we walk in the light of His light and manifest His love, His truth is revealed to us and in us.