The way for sinners to receive eternal life--by believing in the Son of God.

[jidong xiao]

约翰在一章一节说到那“从起初”原有的。这里的从起初，与约翰福音的太初不同。（约一1。）太初，是追溯到创造之前已过的永远；从起初，是从创造以来。这指明约翰的书信是接续他的福音书，论到信徒对神圣生命的经历。在福音书里，他指出罪人得着永远生命的路，乃是相信神的儿子。在书信里，他指出那些已经得着神圣生命的信徒，在神圣生命的交通里享受这生命的路，乃是住在神的儿子里面。在启示录里，他揭示永远生命的终结作信徒在永世里完满的享受。

“从起初”在约翰福音用了二次，在本书信用了八次，在约翰二书用了二次。在约翰八章四十四节，约壹一章一节，二章十三至十四节，三章八节，是用在绝对的意义上；在约翰十五章二十七节，约壹二章七节、二十四节（二次），三章十一节，约贰五节、六节，是用在相对的意义上。

In 1:1 John speaks of that which was "from the beginning." This differs from "in the beginning" in John's Gospel (1:1). In the beginning traces back to eternity past before creation; from the beginning proceeds forward from the creation. This indicates that John's Epistle is a continuation of his Gospel concerning the believers' experience of the divine life. In his Gospel he shows the way for sinners to receive eternal life--by believing in the Son of God. In his Epistle he points out the way for the believers who have received the divine life to enjoy it in its fellowship--by abiding in the Son of God. And in his Revelation he unveils the consummation of the eternal life as the believers' full enjoyment in eternity. 

The phrase "from the beginning" is used twice in the Gospel of John, eight times in this Epistle, and two times in 2 John. In John 8:44; 1 John 1:1; 2:13, 14; and 3:8 it is used in the absolute sense, but in John 15:27; 1 John 2:7, 24 (twice); 3:11; and 2 John 5, 6, it is used in the relative sense.