John's First Letter is the natural sequel to Jesus's 'Upper Room discourse' (Jn 14-16),
teaching us how to 'abide in Christ' - how to maintain our fellowship (or communion)
with Father God and Jesus His Son, by the Holy Spirit.

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As Bishop of Ephesus, John was writing to help his churches recover from splits
caused by heresies contradicting the truth of Christ's incarnation.

 

In the process of defining three tests to distinguish the spiritually true from the false,
he also shows us how to have full assurance that we are children of God,
with its resultant outflow of loving, joyful fellowship with one another
as well as with all three members of the Trinity!