The Trinitarian structure of 1 John (Part 2)

1 John closes somewhat abruptly with the statement: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols."

This hasn't made much sense to me before because I have always been reading 1 John focused on humans loving one another when reading the book and racking my brains to deal with the seeming Christian Perfectionism. But reading it again today what has struck me is just how much God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are mentioned. Instead it seems that theology is John's major concern. Of course loving one another is massively important but throughout this is seen as firmly founded on the nature of God himself.

The best way to demonstrate this is to encourage you to read the book beginning to end. Seeing that in God the Trinity is life, light, truth and love (some of John's favourite words).

As John says of his purpose in writing the letter it is "so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1:3). More directly he was prompted to write because of false teachers whose false teaching seemed to centre on a denial that Jesus was from God (2:23; 4:2-3; 4:15; 4:14; 5:1; 5:5-6). John points out that while they may think they can deny the Son while worshipping the Father they are mistaken (1 John 2:22-23, a constant theme in the Gospel as well). Denying Jesus they are actually idolaters!

Not only are they idolaters but by denying the Trinitarian work of salvation they are losing love in the process. As John says:

• "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."
• "the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."
• "this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."
• "We love because he first loved us."

Incidentally this is yet another instance of where I am beginning to think that Judaizers are the main threat behind many NT letters, not proto-Gnostics or any other kind of Hellenized syncretists.