1st JOHN - # 1, Introduction The early church and false teachers. (2-25-25)

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Introduction
Like most of the Epistles in the New Testament, all these three letters are special. They are not written as books commonly are at the present time, to elucidate some subject in which the writer is specially interested, without much reference to current events. They are produced for a special occasion, to meet an existing difficulty and danger. The First Epistle is written to grapple with the insidious adj. [harmful but enticing] seductions [something that attracts or charms], of antinomian adj. [one who rejects a socially established morality], Gnosticism, [the practice of various cults whose conviction is that matter is evil and deliverance comes through gnosis (esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth essential for salvation)] as Gnostics threatened the Church at large.
The Second Epistle deals with the same danger as it affected a particular family. The third threats of a corresponding danger arising from lawlessness of another kind—high-handed rebellion against apostolic authority.
The First Epistle is a companion to the Gospel, and lays the foundations of Christian conduct as a whole. The other two have no special relation to the Gospel, and deal with only one or two points of conduct, the duty of hospitality, and its limits; and the treatment of those who promote heresy and schism.