Part 90 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson says the letters of John are grandfatherly letters because John was an old man - and the only apostle to die of old age. John sees things as black or white. It’s in contrast to the relativism which has swept across the world in modern times. He seeks to ensure that his readers’ joy may be full, that they may be living blameless lives, that they may be safe from the wiles of the Devil and that they may have assurance. David puts John’s aims this way: To Promote Harmony; to Produce Happiness; to Protect Holiness; to Prevent Heresy – (David says “we have to be on constant guard against it”) - and to Provide Hope. The arrangement of John’s teaching is characteristic of Jewish Rabbis’ manner, not analytical but unstructured wisdom. The heresy of the time came from Greek philosophy which separated physical and spiritual, secular and sacred, temporal and eternal – and gave the impression that anything physical was dirty. They could not see that God could really become man. David says when we come to Christ, only our past sins are forgiven at that time. Future sins must be dealt with as they happen. This is a very important study for all.