Learning the Reason John Wrote Three Epistles

That which was from the beginning, which 

we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, 

which we have looked upon, and our hands have 

handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was 

manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, 

and shew unto you that eteral life, which was 

from the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 

that which we have seen and heard declare 

we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: 

and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and 

with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things 

write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

1John 1:1-4 

     We have finished the two letters of the apostle Peter and now turn our attention to the apostle John. We have previously studied the book of John, now we turn to those three letters written probably around the end of the first century. John who lived and died about 100 years, who taught Polycarp, and probably Ireneaus who also was a student of Polycarp and wrote letters to the Churches must not be confused with John the Baptist who was the son of Elisabeth, sister of Barnabas, and surnamed Mark (acts 12:12, 25; 13; 15:37) the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the forerunner of annoucing that Jesus Christ was the One whom he spoke of as the Messiah. John the apostle was a fisherman and who became the apostle of love, the man whom Jesus loved. Charles Wesley's words of John: 

                "A Caesar's title less my envy moves 

                Than to be styled the man whom Jesus loves;

                What charms, what beauties in his face did shine

                Reflected ever from the face divine."

     The early Christians faced heresy in the Church which was a problem of distinguishing orthodoxy from heterodoxy, faithful ministers from false teachers. We have that problem today, therefore a study of God's word without the encumberaning effect of presuppostions that are used to prove God's word rather than God's word informing us of God's teachings whereby we arrive at the truth of God. the apostle John formulates about tighteousness, love of fellow believers, and correct Christology. Furthermore, John gives to how we are to test the Christian profession of teachers and of oneself.

     Cerinthianism which is a heresy of Gnosticism probably was growing in Christendom by the time of John's writings of these letters. Irenaeus wrote this account: "John left a bath house hurriedly when the Gnostic leader Cerinthus entered: "There are lso those who heard from him [Polycarp] that John, the Lord's discipe, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus inside, rushed out of the bath house without bathing [and] exlaing, 'let us flee, lest even the bath house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside'" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:34). What is this heresy? Against this Cerinthian doctrine John stresses that it was the one person "Jesus Christ" who began his public manifestation by being baptized and finished it by being crucified: "This is the One who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood (1John 5:6). That is, Jesus Christ really died as well as entered His ministry by the water of baptism. Against this the Cerinthian doctrine teaches the notion that matter is inherently evil, (this is definitely Gnostic) and Cerinthus distingiushed between an immaterial, divine Christ-spirit and a human Jesus with a physical body, and said that the Christ-spirit came on the human Jesus right after Jesus' baptism and left just before the crucifixion.

     Another heresy is Docetism. Docetism is not really a single heretical movement. It is, rather, a doctrinal point intrinsic to a number of early Christian heresies and even some contemporary Christian (or Christ-related) denominations. A heretical teaching about the person of Christ which holds that Christ, the divine Word, only seemed to assume the flesh of Jesus. The term is from the Greek dokein, "to seem." Jesus' life, suffering, death, and bodily resurrection were considered unreal. It thus undermines belief in the reality of the Incarnation as a doctrine of Christian faith. The roots of docetism lie in the pervasive Greek understanding of matter as evil and of God as incapable of suffering or "impassive."Docetism has cropped up in a number of Christian belief systems, and even has some adherents still. The main reason that it keeps coming up, is that, in one form or another, it rationally answers the question, How could God be human? How could God have died? The Docetist answer, of course — whatever the reasoning might be — is that God never was human and never actually died. More orthodox Christians consider Docetism to be among the most severe threats to their beliefs, since it denies the resurrection, which they consider to be the most important facet of Christianity. Without it, one might as well not believe in Christ at all! Thus, there will always be some Docetist theology popping up here or there, and there'll always be some orthodox "enforcers" trying to suppress or debunk it. 
     There were many more heresies that the early Christians faced as they attempted and at times succeeded to change the truth into what they believed to be true according especially to the doctrine of the Gnostics. As much as the early Christians had to stay alert to these heresies we too today have to stay alert for in at least some way those heresies continue to affect the Church. 
     Who else should we listen to other than the one who walked, talked and touched Jesus Christ. The man John who lived many years and saw that the truth was being infected by heresy and wrote to alleviate Christians from the sin of believing in those heresies. We too today must remove the sin of false teaching. 

If a member of the community sins
    unintentionally and does what is 
forbidden in any of the LORD's commands,
    he is guilty.
               Leviticus 4:27

Confess your sins: God is merciful to the repentant

Richard L. Crumb