Recently, I discovered that the epistle of First John is powerful. Reading it several times, I underlined words that were repeated, connected the thoughts, and correlated them with the gospel of John; thus, mining a few more nuggets of truth each time. Yet, I never got the sense that I’d got to the bottom of things. John, the Apostle, employed a spiral writing style, revisiting themes of love for God and the believers, obedience to His commandments, faith in Jesus Christ, believers not sinning habitually, and guarding against false teachers.
The aged apostle’s intention was clear: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete ” (I John 1:3–4).