1 John 1:2-4 declares that the eternal life revealed in the Son is proclaimed so that others may share fellowship with the Father and the Son, resulting in the fullness of joy.

John began his epistle by grounding its message in his personal eyewitness account of Jesus and His ministry,

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—”
(1 John 1:1)

The opening verse grammatically floats and echoes more than it completes a thought.

This is one reason why the translators chose to put an em dash (—) at the end of 1 John 1:1 instead of a period (.).

Another reason why the translators included an em dash was to bracket off 1 John 1:2.

—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— (v 2).

By putting an em dash before and after verse 2, the translators are trying to capture John’s cascading style of thought. In this verse, John is interrupting his own thought with another thought. John briefly steps aside to expand on the life before returning to complete his original thought (1 John 1:1) in 1 John 1:3.

The em dashes indicate that verse 2 is John’s own insertion. And it preserves the flow of John’s opening proclamation while allowing him to dwell momentarily on the staggering reality that eternal life was manifested and has been seen, heard, and personally encountered by John and others.

1 John 1:2 serves as a second introduction to this letter. 1 John 1:1 established the tone and grounded John’s message in his personal lived experience and interactions with Jesus.

And John 1:2 describes what John is going to do in this letter, which is testify to what he learned from Jesus and to proclaim how to experience the fullness of eternal life.

There are three statements contained in verse 2.

and the life was manifested,
and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life,
which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

The direction of 1 John 1:1 moved us closer to God. Now that we have “touched with our hands,” (1 John 1:1) we move outward to share with others. First the life was manifested or made visible, then we have seen and experienced it for ourselves, and then we testify and proclaim what was manifested to us. Just as the order of senses that brings John closer to Jesus mirrors the experience of all believers growing in intimacy with Christ, so too this order of actions of seeing, testifying, and proclaiming is a natural progression of a response to the Gospel.

John first experiences Jesus. Then he attests to his belief. And then he shares it with others. John is part of the chain of witnesses that started with John the Baptist (John 1:7) and continues with the apostles (John 15:27). Even God Himself testifies about Jesus (John 5:37). The Apostle John takes up the banner and testifies about the life that was manifested in Jesus.

The first statement of verse 2 is: and the life was manifested.

This statement is a five-word summary of what John said he and others experienced in 1 John 1:1.

The Greek word that is translated as life in verse 2 is ζωή (G2222—pronounced: “zō-é”). “Zōé” refers to the quality and experience of life. “Zōé” is the very good life God intended for us to experience. “Zōé” is available through Jesus (John 1:12, 3:16, 10:10,14:6, 20:31). “Zōé” is an essential characteristic and overflowing byproduct of the Gospel.

In this context the term the life refers back to “the Word of Life” at the end of 1 John 1:1.

“The Word of Life” in 1 John 1:1b was from the beginning, and was heard, seen, observed, and touched by John and the apostles. “The Word of Life” was manifested to them in human form (John 1:14).

There are two senses in which John’s statement and the life was manifested can be understood, and John likely means both.

And the life was manifested could mean that it is through Jesus’s teachings and example that God’s vision for human flourishing becomes visible and realized. If so, the life specifically refers to the amazing goodness of the Gospel which Jesus taught, exemplified, and offered, that give us life abundantly (John 10:10). This is how the translators seem to interpret the meaning of the life in verse 2 because they do not capitalize life.

There are several indicators that the life refers to an essential characteristic and/or the fullest experience of the Gospel in verse 2:

John later appears to modify life in verse 2 as the eternal life.
Eternal life is normally reserved for our fullest experience of life. And the Bible does not normally use eternal life as a title or label for Jesus.
The term life (“zoé”), is frequently used in this way throughout the epistle of 1 John.
(1 John 2:25, 3:14-16, 5:11-13)

The other way the statement And the life was manifested could be understood is to say that “the Word of Life (‘zōé’)” (1 John 1:1b) who is the Son of God was made visible and tangible. In this case, life refers specifically to the person of Jesus who is the Word of Life and Son of God. If life refers to Jesus, it should be capitalized as “Life” in accordance with every other Biblical mention of God’s person.

There are a several contextual indicators that John intended the life to refer specifically to the person of Jesus and should therefore be translated/capitalized as Life. These indicators are:

John just said, “Word of Life” and described how it was manifested in 1 John 1:1b.
It would make sense that John is describing the same Person with the same word life in the expression that immediately followed: “Word of Life” (1 John 1:1b).
John later contrasts and/or modifies life in verse 2 as the eternal life.
John may be referring to Jesus as Life at the beginning of this verse to describe what was manifested and what he saw. And later in the verse, when John proclaims eternal life, he is explaining the full meaning of what Jesus came to offer.

While the Bible does not normally use eternal life to identify the person of Jesus, it often does use the word Life to describe Him. Jesus is the source and substance of life (John 1:4). Jesus twice described Himself as “the Life” (John 11:25, 14:6). And in Revelation, Jesus identified Himself as “the Living One” (Revelation 1:18).

However, as will be more fully explained when we talk about the final clause of verse 2, the Greek language indicates that eternal life is being used in this context to describe Jesus. As such, eternal life is speaking of His eternal preexistence, as He is before all things and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17).
John later describes the eternal life in verse 2 as having co-existence with the Father.
Just as “the Word was with God” (John 1:1), so too was the Life with the Father.

John is likely referring to Jesus when he wrote: And the life was manifested. But John also may have intended this statement to describe both the divine person of Jesus and the abundant “zōé” He came to give us. Thus, John is both presenting Jesus to us as he heard, saw, observed, and touched in the beginning and is now proclaiming His life-giving message to us.

The second statement of verse 2 is: and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life.

John’s statement begins the outward trajectory of the Gospel. First, we draw inward as we hear, see, observe, and touch Jesus (1 John 1:1). And then as we are transformed by Him, we begin to tell others so that they too may know Him and experience the abundant life He has for them.

After John states the life was manifested, he repeats how we (he and other apostles) have seen Jesus. John saw Jesus when he followed Him for three years as His disciple in Judea.

The expression we have seen is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense describes an action that has already been completed in the past but continues to have consequences that are continually affecting the present. It is like the ripples continually moving on the surface of the water from a rock that was thrown in the water. In this context, the fact that we have seen is in the perfect tense describes how John saw Jesus in the past, but John can still vividly remember, recall, visualize, and hear what Jesus did and said, and is being changed by what he remembers.

Next, John uses courtroom-like language to certify that everything concerning what he is about to say about the eternal life has come from what he saw. When John writes and we have seen and testify, he is explicitly stating for the record that this letter is his testimony to the things he witnessed Jesus say and do.

In Greek, the verb testify is in the present-continuous tense. This verbal tense describes how John is continuously testifying to what he witnessed from the moment he wrote these things down even until the present as we are reading the testimony of his letter.

The Greek verb for testify is a form of μαρτυρέω (G3140—pronounced: “mar-tu-reh-ō”). It shares the same root as the Greek word for witness. And the English word “martyr” is derived from this word because a martyr is someone who testifies to the truth unto death.

Church tradition holds that all of Jesus’s disciples (except for Judas who betrayed Him) were martyred. John’s brother James was the first to be put to death, beheaded by Herod (Acts 12:2). John seems to have been the last to have been martyred through exile to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).

In Greek, the verb testify is in the present-continuous tense.

Then John adds and proclaim to you the eternal life.

The pronoun—you—refers to you the reader, the immediate recipients of John’s intended audience. But—you —can also include us and all those who have ever read John’s testimony.

To proclaim something is to publicly announce or demonstrate it.

The Greek term that is translated as proclaim is a form of ἀπαγγέλλω (G518—pronounced: “ap-ang-el -lō”). It is a compound word consisting of the preposition “ap” which means “from,” and “angelo” meaning “message.” (The English term “angel” is also related to “angelo” because an angel is a messenger from God). The Greek verb “apangelo” means to pull out the full meaning of the message. “Apangelo” describes the action of announcing and explaining its message in full detail.

The thing John is proclaiming to us in his letter is an important topic. John is proclaiming eternal life. Thus, the epistle of 1 John explains what eternal life is and how we can experience it.

In Greek, the verbal tense of proclaim is in the present-continuous tense. This indicates that as we read this letter, the Apostle John is announcing and explaining eternal life to us.

The Greek words that are translated eternal life in 1 John 1:2 are forms of “zōé” and “aionios.”

“Zōé” was explained above as “the quality and experience of life.”

The Greek adjective αἰώνιος (G166—pronounced: “ai-ō-ni-os”) is related to the Greek noun “aiōn” which means “age.”

Context determines what specific “age” is in view, and whether we are looking forward or backward. For example, in Romans 16:25, “aionios” is translated “for long” in the phrase “for long ages past.” The English word “eon” is derived from the Greek noun “aiōn.” Young’s Literal Translation typically renders “aionios” as “age-during.”

The phrase eternal life appears six times in 1 John. In 1 John 5:13, John writes “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” This tells us that eternal life is a possession of all who believe. John wrote of this in his Gospel, where he recorded Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21).

There, Jesus told the Jewish ruler that being spiritually reborn is a matter of faith. He said that just as Israelites bitten by venomous snakes looked at the bronze snake lifted up and were healed, so would those who realized their sin and looked at Him on the cross in hope of forgiveness be saved from the poisonous venom of sin (John 3:14-15).

In this sense, eternal life is the position each believer has as a member of God’s family. All who believe are placed into His body and become a part of Him. This is God’s promise to us, that all who believe have eternal life, as John asserts in 1 John 2:25.

As Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:13, this means that all who possess the Gift of Eternal Life have it forever. This is because for God to reject anyone in Christ would be to reject Himself, which He will never do. Part of the reason John writes this letter is so those who have believed can know they possess eternal life.

John uses eternal life another way in 1 John 3:15. In this verse, eternal life refers to the new creation that is in Christ, as opposed to the old man, the sinful nature or flesh we continue to have so long as we dwell in a physical body in this life. John says that one who murders cannot have “eternal life abiding in him.” What Paul calls walking in the Spirit, John refers to as abiding or dwelling in Christ, or later in 1 John 1, “walking in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” (1 John 1:7).

Believers can possess the Gift of Eternal Life but not abide or dwell in it. John adds that God has “given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). Even though believers in Jesus are new creations in Christ, they still have the capacity to dwell in their flesh, and live in their old nature (Romans 6:16). Just as we might own a house but not dwell in it, we can possess the Gift of Eternal Life and not abide in it. To abide in Christ is to abide in and gain the fullest experience of eternal life (1 John 5:20).

From this we can discern that Eternal life is not merely immortality. Believers have not only a promise of living eternally in God’s presence in a new earth, but also the opportunity to live an enhanced quality of life that may begin the moment a person believes in Jesus and is born into God’s forever family. When God’s Spirit indwells a believer, they are endowed with the power to walk in life.

The Bible uses eternal life in two related but distinct ways.

The Bible uses eternal life to describe God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ from an eternal state of separation from God and condemnation of our sins.

The Gift of Eternal Life is totally free and is received by grace through faith in Jesus as the Son of God and our Savior (John 1:12, 3:14-16, Romans 3:21-24, 5:15-17, Ephesians 2:8-10).

The Gift of Eternal Life is available to everyone (John 1:12, 3:16).
The Bible also uses eternal life to describe the experience and reward of following and knowing God as we overcome trials by faith in His power.

The Prize of Eternal Life is something we must regularly choose. The Prize is commonly described as “the kingdom.” We experience, obtain, enter into, and/or inherit the Prize of Eternal Life by abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, entering into, and inheriting through obedient faith (Matthew 7:13-14, 19:16-29, John 15:4-11, 1 Corinthians 9:23-27, 2 Corinthians 5:7-10, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 5:3-15, Philippians 3:12-14, Hebrews 12:1, 2 Peter 1:9-11, Revelation 3:21).

The Prize of Eternal Life is available to everyone who has received the Gift of Eternal Life (John 3:3).

The epistle of 1 John is not intended as a letter to explain how to receive the Gift of Eternal Life. John’s Gospel, however, was written with the purpose of explaining the Gift as well as the Prize of Eternal Life (John 20:31).

Eternal life in its fullest sense is restored fellowship with God. It describes sharing in God’s own life—knowing Him, trusting Him, and walking with Him—rather than simply living forever in a chronological sense. While eternal life does extend beyond physical death, its defining feature is relational and experiential. That is why John will write that his reason for sending this letter is to lead them to an experience of a fullness of joy (1 John 1:4).

Eternal life is life lived in alignment with God’s truth, purposes, and joy. This life is secure because it depends on God’s promise, yet it is also dynamic, meant to be experienced, cultivated, and enjoyed in the here and now as believers grow in faith and obedience.

John, in this letter, will explain how to experience the fullness of eternal life. In this fullness the believer’s joy will be made full.

The third expression of 1 John 1:2 is the clause which was with the Father and was manifested to us.

The Greek construction of 1 John 1:2 indicates that this clause modifies the eternal life. This is different than what the English translation might seem to suggest:

and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

According to English grammar rules, it would appear that the clause: which was with the Father and was manifested to us should modify the first clause: and the life was manifested to us. Often when there is a clause—comma—clause—comma—modifying clause statement like we have in 1 John 1:2, the modifying clause directly affects the first clause but not the second clause.

But the Greek text indicates that the modifying clause at the end of the verse specifically modifies the term eternal life. This is because the Greek form of the pronoun for which matches the case, number, and gender of the Greek expression for eternal life.

What this means is that eternal life in verse 2 appears to be a description of Jesus. In 1 John 1:2, eternal life is not merely being used as a description of the Gift or Prize of the Gospel as is typical. In this verse, eternal life is synonymous with Jesus. Jesus is more than the literary personification of eternal life. He is the literal embodiment of eternal life. Jesus is eternal life.

As the Son of God, Jesus has “life in Himself” (John 5:26). So, it follows that if we are in Christ, we possess eternal life, which is a point John will make in 1 John 5:11, 13.

Because eternal life refers to the person of Jesus in verse 2, it is better when capitalized as Eternal Life in accordance with how the Bible capitalizes terms that describe the person of God. The Young’s Literal Translation recognizes this, and translates the phrase Eternal Life as “Life, age-during.”

And since the final clause of verse 2 refers to eternal life, it means the eternal life (Jesus) was with the Father and was manifested to us.

In this letter, John will testify and proclaim Jesus who is the person of eternal life. He is the Giver of eternal life (John 14:6) and He is the first human to attain and experience eternal life.

The final clause of verse 2 parallels two of the major statements in the prologue to John’s Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
(John 1:1)

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1:14)

Just as Jesus is “the Word who was with God” in the beginning (John 1:1), so too is Jesus the Eternal Life who was with God the Father. And just as Jesus is the Word become flesh who dwelt among us (the Apostles) (John 1:14), so too is Jesus the Eternal Life manifested to us (the Apostles).

Jesus defined eternal life as intimately knowing God,

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
(John 17:3)

As a human, Jesus is the first person to experience eternal life because He knew God personally (John 7:29). In addition to being God and the Son of God, Jesus also grew in His relationship with God as a human. Jesus learned and grew in His relationship with God through His perfect obedience as a human (John 8:28-29, 15:10, Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 5:8). It was fitting that Jesus, the Giver of eternal life (John 17:2), attain and learn to experience eternal life through obedient suffering as a human (Hebrews 2:9-10).

We too can experience the fullness of eternal life if we follow His example of taking up our crosses daily and dying to self (Luke 9:23). To take up our cross daily is to be Jesus’s disciple (Luke 14:27). This is recognizing that laying aside self and the desires of the world and following Him is the way to life; even though it is a difficult path found through a narrow gate, it is worth the cost because it is the only way to life (Matthew 7:13-14). The only alternative is the broad way which leads to destruction.

With this description of eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us, John completes his parenthetical expansion and steps back into the sentence he began in 1 John 1:1. The interruption of verse 2 grounds John’s testimony and what he will proclaim and explain in what He saw in his earthly experience with Jesus. He saw Jesus as the Eternal Life who was with the Father and manifested to us. The pronoun us refers to the disciples that walked with Him.

Having grounded the message of his letter in his personal experience and interactions with Jesus and having announced that he will explain what eternal life is and how we as believers can experience it, John now returns from his interrupted thought. The em dashes close and his original thought resumes:

what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ (v. 3).

John repeats how he has both seen and heard Jesus/the eternal life and that he will proclaim Him/the eternal life to you (the reader) also.

The reason John will proclaim Jesus/eternal life to you also is explicitly stated. In John’s words, he is proclaiming Jesus/eternal life so that you too may have fellowship with us. John desires for you (his readers) to experience the fulness of the experience of eternal life and enjoy the goodness of knowing Jesus, just as he has experienced and enjoyed Jesus while he walked with Him. This is the expressed goal of John’s letter at its opening, in 1 John 1:3, and near its closing in 1 John 5:13:

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
(1 John 5:13)

The Greek word that is translated in verse 3 as fellowship is the term: κοινωνία (G2842—pronounced “koi-no-nia”). “Koinonia” refers to friendship or community, but more specifically to a partnership or sharing in an experience or venture.

Some examples of other uses of “koinonia” in the New Testament include:

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship [“koinonia”], to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
(Acts 2:42)
“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship [‘koinonia’] with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:9)
“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing [‘koinonia’] in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing [‘koinonia’] in the body of Christ?”
(1 Corinthians 10:16)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship [‘koinonia’] of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”
(2 Corinthians 13:14).
“your participation [‘koinonia’] in the gospel from the first day until now.”
(Philippians 1:5)

“Koinonia” is something in which you participate. It is taking part in a team that has a shared purpose. The “koinonia” described in the New Testament is a community of believers who partner together in sharing the Gospel.

They share in the community of God’s family.
(Romans 8:15-16)
They share in the work of God’s kingdom.
(Matthew 25:14-18, 28:19-20)
They share in Jesus’s blood and body in communion.
(Luke 22:19, John 6:54, 1 Corinthians 10:16)
They share in Christ’s sufferings.
(Romans 8:17, Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 4:13)
They share in Christ’s triumphs, overcoming their trials by obedient faith.
(Romans 8:17b-18, 8:37, 2 Timothy 2:12, 2 Peter 2:2-3, 1 John 5:4, Revelation 3:21)
They share in the community of the trinity through fellowship with Jesus.
(John 14:23, Colossians 3:3)
They share in the glory and joy of their Master.
(Matthew 25:21, Romans 8:18)

In the context of 1 John 1:3, the fellowship/”koinonia” we can experience is with us. The pronoun—us—refers to John and the other apostles. We might think of this fellowship as being a member of a team. A good teammate employs their gifting along with other team members to achieve a shared purpose. This is, observably, the source of the greatest joys in life. Events like the celebration of a championship or the victory party after a winning election are outer expressions of the joy brought through effective fellowship.

By writing this, John is saying that we can experience and enjoy and participate in the same things which he and the apostles have experienced. We can be a part of the same community and fellowship alongside the apostles.

John then describes the fellowship of the apostles: and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

The apostles have fellowship with God the Father and with Jesus who is both God the Son and the Messiah.

Incredibly, John states that we too can be partakers and full-fledged members of this same fellowship. We too can enjoy community and partnership, and friendship with God. We too can have fellowship with Eternal Life Himself. We can share in “Team Jesus” and participate fully in His life and ministry through walking as He walked.

In the epistle of 1 John, the apostle will tell us how we can enjoy this fellowship with eternal life. This purpose statement to seek fellowship with God and one another will provide an overall context for the entire letter. We will seek fellowship with God through fellowship with Eternal Life, who is the Son of God.

John’s explanation that this fellowship is both with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ describes Jesus’s identity as God and the Christ (the Messiah).

The invitation into fellowship is into a community that believes that the eternal life that was with God the Father was manifested in His Son Jesus Christ, who came to be seen, heard, and touched.

Belief in Jesus as the One true eternal God in human form and the Messiah is the core belief of the Christian faith. Belief in Jesus as God and the Messiah is how we receive the Gift of Eternal Life.

Believing that Jesus was and is God manifested in human form contrasted the false teachings John was combating (1 John 4:1-3).

Within the Roman context, a “son of god” could refer to a demigod like Achilles; and “son of god” was a title that the emperor took on in order to claim divinity. And for a Jewish audience, calling Jesus the Son of God was to claim that He is the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:6-7).

John testifies that Jesus is both the eternal Son of God and Christ.

That Jesus, the God-man, was “begotten” as a “Son” refers to His being rewarded by the Father for His obedience as a human to reign over all the earth (Hebrews 1:5, 13, Matthew 28:18, Revelation 3:21, Philippians 2:9-10). That Jesus is “Christ” means He is the anointed to reign over Israel as the heir of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

The word Christ translates the Greek word Χριστός (G5547—pronounced: “chri-stos”) and means “anointed,” just as “messiah” transliterates the Hebrew word מָשַׁח (H4886 —pronounced: “maw-shakh”) which also means “anointed.” Just as David was anointed to be king of Israel, Jesus was anointed to be king of the entire earth (Matthew 28:18).

John concludes his four-verse introduction to this epistle with a simple comment:

These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete (v 4).

Thus, in addition to having fellowship, gaining joy is another purpose for John’s letter.

While John uses a rhetorical plural voice to say these things we write, he changes to a singular voice at the end of the letter: “these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God” (5:13a).

In both cases the expression these things likely refers to the letter as a whole. These statements bracket the beginning and end of the letter. At the beginning, John uses the plural to emphasize his witness and authority, which has been proven credible by the end of the letter.

John states the two-fold purpose of this letter in this opening passage: that you too may have fellowship with us and so that our joy may be made complete (vs. 3-4). The word translated made complete is derived from the Greek word, πληρόω (G4137—pronounced: “plé-rah-ō”). This term is commonly translated elsewhere as “fulfilled,” in reference to the fulfillment of a prophecy. “Plérahō” has connotations of being full to the brim and finished.

John will experience joy on account of more believers joining in a walk of fellowship through the obedience of Christ. As he writes in 3 John, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). But his own joy is not the primary reason that he writes this letter.

Some English translations translate the pronoun—our—in the phrase that our joy may be complete as “your.”

While the plural “we” in these things we write is used for rhetorical purposes to bolster John’s witness, this plural our in the expression our joy is inclusive to all John’s readers.

It is not only the writer’s joy that is being made complete, but the readers’ joy as well. This follows with John’s wish that they might have fellowship with us. John desires a joint fellowship where everyone experiences this joy. John wants you to be included in our joy. This means that John wrote this letter in the hopes that you would share in this joy that comes from knowing Jesus and the fullness of eternal life that He offers.

There are four total passages in 1 John where he states the purpose of the letter and two of those expressed purposes are in this section of scripture:

we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ (v 3b).

These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete (v 4).
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
(2:1a)
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
(5:13)

All four of these stated purposes are linked.

that you may have fellowship with believers and God
that you may have joy
that you may not sin
that you may know that you have eternal life

To have fellowship with believers and God is to have overflowing joy and to not sin and is the fulfillment of eternal life.

The use of the second person indirect object “you” in the other purpose statements (1 John 1:3, 2:1a, 5:13) infers that the our refers to both the reader and the writer in verse 4: that our joy may be made complete.

Additionally, the purpose in the closing bracket, “that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13), brings additional meaning to the eternal life that John proclaims in verse 2:

…and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— (v 2b)

As was stated above, eternal life in verse 2 primarily refers to Jesus as eternal life. He existed with the Father before He was manifested.

But the eternal life in 5:13 speaks of both the Gift and the Prize of eternal life.

Thus, John’s purpose for writing this letter is to convey the truth that fellowship and joy in Christ requires walking in obedience to Christ. Or stated another way, the difficult path that leads to life is setting aside self and the world, but is more than worth it because this is where true fulfillment can be found (Matthew 7:13-14).

Being in Christ and being assured of living forever with Him does not require anything other than having sufficient faith to believe that Jesus can save you (John 3:14-15). As Paul asserts, if we die with Him we will live with Him, and even if we are faithless, He is still faithful because He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:11, 13).

But to gain the full experience of eternal life requires walking in the truth, apart from the world. John will contrast the ways of the world, which lead to death, with walking in fellowship with Christ, which leads to joy (1 John 2:15-16).

John’s objective is to convince these believers to reject the lies of the world and choose to walk in the truth, that they might connect with God’s design for us and experience the harmony of fellowship with Christ and one another, and in so doing live a life of joy. Paul makes a similar argument, saying that if we endure, we will gain the prize of reigning with Him, but if we deny Him and live in the ways of the world He will deny us the reward of reigning (2 Timothy 2:12).

John loves his children in the faith, and greatly desires for them to live lives of fulfillment, and to avoid the great loss that attends wasting our opportunity to live a walk of faith during our brief time here on this earth (1 Corinthians 3:15).

1 John 1:8